This piece was inspired by two recent developments with obvious particularity and implication for Edo state politics, whose tempo will once more increase in the next few months because of the governorship election that is coming up about July, this year. The first development was the quick response by the Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, to the report that N260 million was paid by the Office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.) into the account of former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih. Knowing full well the political differences between the duo, it was not surprising that Oshiomhole was quoted to have said, at a political event in December last year in Edo Central, Anenih’s stronghold, that he (Anenih) should make a refund if it was true that he received the money. Perhaps, Oshiomhole had thought that the money, which may have been dubiously dubbed as part of the arms cash, was the usual political largesse that presidents and governors are wont to dish out from the security votes and other sources to political leaders. He has since discovered that this was not the case.
The second development, which led to Oshiomhole’s discovery, was the explanation reportedly given by Anenih in a letter he wrote to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that the money was a part refund of the over N440 million of his personal money that he expended on some political assignments consequent upon the instructions of then President, Goodluck Jonathan. In the letter to the anti-graft agency, the Iyasele of Esanland, according to media reports, stated that Jonathan asked for his account details for reimbursement, which he made available to him and was therefore not in a position to know which office was going to make the payment. Interestingly, Anenih’s explanation would appear to have shut Oshiomhole up on the issue. The governor who had perhaps thought that he had another opportunity to denigrate the Uromi-born politician must have been terribly disappointed with the explanation which has, in a way, shown Anenih as a man of integrity who is consistent and unwavering in his political dealings, support and loyalty.
Anenih did not deny that N260 million was paid into his account by the Office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Dasuki. But unlike many others who have been confronted with similar allegations and who have been unable to credibly explain how they disbursed the funds, Anenih in his letter to the EFCC gave details of the assignments the leadership of the PDP under Jonathan requested him to carry out and the cost implications. To a group headed by elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, he gave N63 million for post-2015 election peace advocacy in the northern part; to the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Olu Falae, he gave N100 million to enable the party mobilize support for the presidential candidature of Jonathan since SDP did not present a candidate in the 2015 presidential election; and, to the Leader of ACCORD party, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, he gave N100 million in the same circumstance and for a similar purpose.
Indeed, the sum of these three major disbursements has already surpassed the said N260 million paid into his account by the Office of the NSA. Importantly, the outstanding of more than N180 million by which Anenih claimed he exceeded the N260 million has become, from all reasonable indications, a bad debt. He reportedly put the outstanding sum on record in his explanation to the EFCC but nobody seems bothered about that disclosure or claim. It is now also clear that the N260 million traced to his account could not be reasonably associated with money laundering neither could it be said to be in breach of public trust, having been received as a refund of out-of-pocket expenses incurred on political assignments that would help to maintain the peace and stability of the nation during the crucial 2015 presidential election.
What Anenih has going for him in this deal that has been projected as a big mess by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) is his trustworthiness. He disbursed to the respective beneficiaries of the fund the exact amounts he was instructed to give and the respective beneficiaries-Yakassai, Falae and Ladoja-have confirmed receiving the money, which they claimed was used for specified purposes. Anyone who is interested in whether Anenih disbursed N260 million and how he did so should read the narratives of the trio of Yakassai, Falae and Ladoja. This is how to play clean and be prudent in politics. What if Anenih had shortchanged them, he would have, by now, been confronted with a moral dilemma of giving credible accounts. It is my humble position that we must be fair to Anenih on this issue. We must see him as an exemplar of sort; that even in our so-called dirty, cloak and dagger politics, some men like him, can still dare to be honest in matters financial.
But and since Oshiomhole was the only one who was not contemplative enough by his quick reaction to the N260 million payment saga, it is hoped that he would now show a good measure of sobriety in appraising the entire drama as it continues to unfold. In fact, there should be limits to irresponsible political activism by persons holding exalted office of governor of a state. They should not play to the gallery in the guise of opposition politics and in desperate bids to gain head-starts in the jostle for or retention of power. Most importantly, they should appreciate the moral lessons in the following dicta, to wit: “those who live in glass houses do not throw stones” and “those who come to equity must come with clean hands.” It would be unfair by all standards, even if Anenih were to have been compromised, for Oshiomhole to cast a stone at him, knowing full well that in matters that have to do with election expenditures, there is no way he, as governor, can be deemed to be above board, especially in the way and manner his security vote is spent.
Or does Oshiomhole want to assume the moral high ground in this regard? Does he want to behave or pontificate like the President and leader of his APC, Muhammadu Buhari, that he is not corrupt or that the process that produced him as the candidate of his party was not corrupt? Or does he want to claim that no government fund from APC-controlled states flowed into his campaign budget? Otherwise, can he disclose to Nigerians how his multi-billion naira electioneering was funded? Indeed, Nigerians would want to know how somebody who paid for his party nomination form with a bank loan could fund, perhaps, one of the most expensive presidential campaigns in the annals of the nation. Even if the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is too disorganized to raise these posers and sustain the tempo of this conversation, the Nigerian people should rise up to the occasion so that every participant in the political process would be fairly treated within the ambits of verifiable acts of omission or commission.
Mr Ehigiator contributed this piece from Benin City, Edo State.
