The United States government on Friday
indicted the President Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government of
massive and widespread corruption.
According to the United States
Department of State, government officials and agencies frequently engage
in corrupt practices with impunity.
This was contained in the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 2012, which was released on Friday evening.
In the report, the judiciary and security agencies, especially the police, were said be lacking in transparency.
It read in part,“The law provides
criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the government did
not implement the law effectively, and officials frequently engaged in
corrupt practices with impunity. Massive, widespread, and pervasive
corruption affected all levels of government and the security forces.
The constitution provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution
for the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while
in office.
Continue after the cut....
“There was a widespread perception
judges were easily bribed and litigants could not rely on the courts to
render impartial judgments. Citizens encountered long delays and alleged
requests from judicial officials for bribes to expedite cases or obtain
favourable rulings.
“Police corruption remained rampant.
Reports of checkpoint bribery and shooting incidents decreased in
February after newly appointed Inspector General of Police Mohammed
Abubakar announced the closure of all police checkpoints across the
country; however, illegal checkpoints remained common in some regions.
Police routinely stopped drivers who did not commit traffic infractions,
refusing to allow them to continue until they paid bribes,” it stated.
Highlighting events that occurred in the
country in last year that portrayed lack of transparency and probity,
the US government listed the escape of the suspected mastermind of the
Boko Haram 2011 Christmas Day bombing from custody, noting how the
police commissioner, who aided the suspect went unpunished; the
conviction of former Delta State governor James Ibori in the Southwark
Crown Court in London of charges of money laundering and other financial
crimes totaling N12.4bn, after he was acquitted by a Nigerian court;
and the N1.067trn fuel subsidy fund lost to “endemic corruption and
entrenched inefficiency” as examples.
The US document also faulted the refusal of public officials to declare their assets as stipulated by law.
It stated that in June 2012, the
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and other groups
demanded that President Jonathan should disclose his assets from 2007 to
2012 but that Jonathan refused.
The report also rated the anticorruption
efforts of the Independent Corrupt Practises and other related offences
Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as “largely
ineffectual,” adding that despite ICPC’s wide mandate, it had only
achieved 60 convictions since its inauguration in 2000.
It also listed a number of cases being
handled by the EFCC that have remained inconclusive, including the case
of alleged misappropriation of one N1bn against former Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, and N40bn against his deputy
Usman Nafada; and the cases against four former governors Gbenga Daniel,
Adebayo Alao-Akala, Aliyu Akwe Doma, and Muhammed Danjuma Goje, for
allegedly misappropriating N58bn, N25bn, N18bn, and N12.8bn,
respectively.
Apart from corruption, the US accused the Federal Government of numerous unlawful killings.
It decried frequent abduction of
civilians and lack of press freedom, highlighting cases, where
journalists were harassed and beaten up.
It also noted widespread discrimination against persons with disability.
The Presidency, however, described the report as an incorrect assessment of the situation in the country.
Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, warned Nigerians to be wary of
such assessments which he described as “parachute researches.”
Culled - Punch
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