A Case for Special Anti-Corruption Courts

Simon Kolawole

When President Bola Tinubu sent an extravagant message to Mr Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi state, on his 50th birthday last year, I shook my head in disbelief and despair. My mind went straight to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had spent enormous time and energy investigating Bello. It is also not a message of assurance to Nigerians, who already do not rate their president on matters of accountability and transparency. The agency decided that Bello had a case to answer and invited him for questioning. But for a long time, Bello refused to report to the EFCC. He carried on as if he owned the world. He was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency.

After all the dramatics, Bello was charged to court for alleged fraud in various sums running into over N200 billion. While we were at it, the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) — which unseated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 using fighting corruption as one of its tenets —appointed Bello as a member of a high-powered committee. Bello himself is all over town talking like a super star, even threatening to run for the senate. If I were him, I would even desire to be national chairman of APC. Was Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, former governor of Kano state, not made chairman while facing a charge of alleged corruption? Why shouldn’t Bello even aspire again to be president?

Get me right: I am not saying because Bello was charged to court, then he was automatically guilty. My limited knowledge of the law is that until a defendant is declared guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction, he is presumed to be innocent. I want to be very clear on that. However, there is something called optics, and there is something called signalling — especially in an underdeveloped democracy like ours. If I am EFCC chairman or police IG and a suspect I am prosecuting in court is openly dancing with the president — who appointed me in the first place — I will definitely not find it funny. You cannot tell politicians not to politick, but there is something called body language.

I watched the recent interview of Mr Ola Olukoyede, the EFCC chairman, on Channels TV where he spoke on the Bello situation. He had previously vowed that he would resign rather than abandon the investigation of the former Kogi governor. “Have I not made good that promise of commitment? Is Yahaya Bello not being prosecuted? The case is still in court,” he said. “I have three cases against Bello. Am I the judge who would determine the conviction? I have done my work. I have fulfilled my mandate. Nigerians must know that, and they must also encourage us in doing more. This man has been investigated, and we have filed charges against him, and the matter is gaining traction.”

An interesting example is that of Alhaji Sule Lamido, the former governor of Jigawa state. He and his two sons were charged to court by the EFCC for alleged corruption nearly 10 years ago. The case dragged on forever and forever without the substance being tried. Lamido had filed a no-case submission and fought it all the way to the Supreme Court. The apex court finally ruled some days ago that Lamido should stand trial. Imagine the time and resources already wasted over the years. Now, we start all over again. We have evolved a corruption trial system that places more emphasis on technicalities than substance. That is why we hardly make serious progress with prosecution.

After watching the Olukoyede interview, I became more convinced that we need extraordinary measures to improve the outcomes of the anti-graft war. One of such measures would be the creation of specialised anti-corruption courts to save time and resources. Some corruption cases have been on since 2007 without recording any headway. By the time a case drags on for four years, the public would have lost interest. The cases can be quietly thrown out without media attention or public outrage. Many of the cases involving former service chiefs and senior military officers that were instituted in 2016 have faded out without any further public interest. That is Nigeria for you.

I do not pretend to have a magic solution to the problem, but I have allowed myself to speculate that a possible solution is creating courts that will devote 100 percent attention to corruption cases. We need to, at least, reduce the workload on regular courts and shorten trial times. The judges usually say their dockets are full. We need to appoint and train more judges with special focus on corruption, since we seem to agree that it is a major stumbling block to good governance and development. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) does not permit endless adjournments once trial starts, but this has been observed mostly in breach. You can’t blame the judges: they are overworked.

I am not unaware that there are many factors contributing to delayed trials. It is not just about the courts. For one, the EFCC used to be quite notorious for filing cases before conducting proper investigation. In some cases, the agency would first file a charge before interrogating suspects and preparing the body of evidence for prosecution. That is, the agency itself is not even ready! You would also find the EFCC being the one asking for adjournment in a case it is prosecuting because one witness is in Greenland or Gaza. One of the things Olukoyede promised to do when he became EFCC chairman was to prepare water-tight cases before going to court. That is a major step forward.

Investigations can take years in a country like the UK but by the time you are charged to court, prosecution will be strict business. Once trial commences, you would hardly hear of endless adjournments. Most adjournments are for the purpose of delivering judgement, as both prosecution and defence will have closed the case. So far, Olukoyede has promised to address this sloppiness and this is already evident in the number of convictions the agency has secured in internet fraud cases. Some of the suspects in this category of fraud hardly put up a strong defence because of the weight of electronic evidence against them in court and this has produced a record number of convictions.

But, without a doubt, some factors are not within the control of the EFCC, especially the cases that have to do with the big politicians. Those ones have the capacity to undermine the judicial system. They have all the resources to engage senior lawyers, and some of the senior lawyers have all the mischievous knowledge on how to delay and derail trials through technical arguments that will be pursued from the high court to the Supreme Court while the substance of the case remains untouched. Technical arguments can go on for years, by which time the system is compromised and the case watered down. This has been a major hinderance to the successful prosecution of cases.

I tried to pick the brain of a senior lawyer on the proposal for special anti-corruption courts. He said the law establishing the Code of Conduct Tribunal can be amended to tackle the challenges of capacity and numbers. We have to improve our system, especially when it is not delivering optimal results. The idea of specialised anti-corruption courts is not mine — it is something campaigners have been suggesting for years. We already have a specialised court for labour matters: the National Industrial Court (NIC). To tackle the challenges facing the anti-corruption war, special courts must be considered as one stepping stone. The system needs to deliver justice fairly, squarely and swiftly.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

WEAKENING WIKE

The move to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers state is not going well, is it? The state lawmakers, who had defected to the APC to join Fubara in his new party, kickstarted the process to impeach him — apparently under the instruction of Chief Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister, who, theoretically, is a member of the PDP. The lawmakers wrote to Justice Simeon Amadi, the chief judge of Rivers state, to set up a judicial panel — as required by the constitution — to probe Fubara over allegations of gross misconduct. Now, the judge has declined to do so, citing court injunctions. Wike himself has toned down his public rhetoric. Has he finally entered a fight he cannot win? Overreach.

WIZKID VS FELA

I never thought I would witness a day when the legendary Fela would be compared with Wizkid on greatness. But here we are. Wizkid and his fans have been all over the social media staking a claim. Greatness, we must accept, means different things to different people across different generations. Beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder. One thing I know for sure is that Fela created a unique sound and a culture. Most importantly, Fela used his art to advance social justice and black consciousness. His songs, such as Water No Get Enemy, Sorrow Tears and Blood, Beast of No Nation, Authority Stealing, and Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense, will remain relevant for ages. Immortal.

ST. SADIO

Sadio Mané, the Senegalese player, was the hero of the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. He was celebrated for refusing to join his Senegal mates in walking off the field to protest a penalty awarded to Morocco, the hosts, in the dying minutes. The emotions of the moment saw the coach, Pape Thiaw, walk his team off the pitch in protest. Nobody wants to see such scenes in football. It was easy ammunition for those who look down on Africa. For his role, people jokingly suggested Mané should get the Nobel Prize for Peace. What really amazes me is that he is not even the team captain. Leadership is not about titles. It is about stepping up when the chips are down. Initiative.

NO COMMENT

On Thursday, President Bola Tinubu posted ambassadors-designate to four countries: Ayo Oke to France, Amin Dalhatu (UK), Kayode Are (France) and… erm… Usman Dakingari (Turkey). It took Tinubu ages to appoint ambassadors. But barely an hour after the announcement of Dakingari, former governor of Kebbi state, as ambassador-designate to Turkey, the posting was withdrawn without any official explanation. We are used to that under Tinubu — but we must still wonder what really happened. Dakingari was neither screened nor confirmed as an ambassador by the senate. How did his name get on the list? Is it a case of an unidentified flying object (UFO)? Hahahaha.