On May 29, Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will mark his first year in office. The date also marks a deadline for his cabinet of 48 ministers, whom he had forced to sign pledges to resign within a year if the work fell short of expectations. He also assigned his close advisor Hadiza Bala Usman to constantly monitor and evaluate their work.
The pledge was part of a sweeping drive against the corruption that has long bedevilled the most populous country in Africa. As part of this, the government has also launched a “Citizens’ Delivery Tracker” app, which allows citizens to evaluate the performance of each minister and the extent to which they have achieved the goals set by the president: from reforming the economy to enhancing domestic security, strengthening agriculture, promoting investment in alternative energy and natural resources, improving education and health, and so on.
What has Tinubu’s Anti-Graft Campaign Achieved?
The president and his team tackling corruption and embezzlement have made significant progress, resuming prosecutions against several officials, uncovering money laundering networks involving state officials, and dismissing and prosecuting a number of state and regional governors across the country on corruption charges.
One high-profile such case is that of Willie Obiano, the former governor of Anambra State in the southeast of the country. He had resigned from office in 2022, but the president ordered an investigation into his affairs the following year, and he has been on trial on corruption charges since late January 2024 before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The case focuses on Obiano’s alleged involvement in laundering some four billion Nairas (around $4. 5 million). The president also asked the anti-graft agency to investigate Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State on money laundering charges involving 551 billion Nairas (around $378 million). Orji was arrested in 2021, although he was released later the same year.
The president has also requested a review of corruption cases against 13 regional governors, including seven from the South and six from the North. They had received favorable verdicts in the cases, dating back as far as 2007, but Tinubu wants those verdicts overturned and the cases re-investigated.
Another such case involves Enugu State’s former governor Chimaroke Nnamani. In 2018, a federal judge had acquitted him of charges of involvement in the laundering of 5.3 billion Naira ($6 million) near the end of his tenure as governor, from 1999 to 2007. Although Nnamani had reached a plea deal with the Nigerian government that led to his acquittal, the federal court has now reinstated the charges.
In February, former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), but Governor Douye Diri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) indicated that a federal court in Abuja has opened a case against him on charges of laundering as much as 19.2 billion Naira ($13 million).
Perhaps the most high-profile of the cases being re-investigated is that of former Governor Peter Odili of Rivers State, home to Nigeria’s richest oil reserves. In 2008, he had been granted immunity by a federal court, preventing his arrest by the EFCC for embezzlement during his rule of the state between 1999 and 2007.
The EFCC has also announced that it will review cases from Nigeria’s northern states dating back to before 2015, involving:
· Bello Matawalle, former governor of Zamfara State, accused of laundering 70 billion Nairas.
· Abdullahi Adamu, former governor of Nasarawa State, accused of laundering 15 billion Nairas.
· Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano State, accused of laundering 10 Nairas from the state’s pension fund.
· Mohammed Danjuma Goje, former governor of Gombe State, accused of defrauding the state of 500 billion Nairas.
· Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa State, accused of laundering about 1.5 billion Nairas.
What Prospects for the Campaign?
Tinubu’s campaign has now affected dozens of officials of various ranks. However, sources suggest that the president may call time on it after his first anniversary in office. If it does continue, it is likely to avoid challenging officials who supported Tinubu in his election campaign.
Meanwhile, verdicts in new cases or retrials could result in political and financial settlements, rather than the campaign turning into a purge of officials throughout the state and its institutions. After all, many of those who supported the president in his path to office built their fortunes in precisely the same way.
