Abimbola Akosile
10 October 2007
Lagos — The Human Rights Watch (HRW) yesterday pooh-poohed the Federal Government's anti-corruption crusade and challenged the present administration to make a serious effort to investigate and hold accountable politicians and government officials allegedly implicated in human rights abuses.
HRW specifically accused the Federal Government of failing to tackle the problems of violence, corruption and impunity perpetrated by its top officials.
In a detailed report released yesterday in Lagos by the highly respected global monitoring group, the organisation said corruption and impunity were systemic abuses that flow from the heart of the very same government institutions that should be working to combat them.
The report came against the backdrop of the recent alleged moves by the Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Chief Mike Aondoakaa, to take over the prosecutorial powers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The 123-page report, with the title 'Criminal Politics: Violence, Godfathers' and Corruption in Nigeria, also fingered the Ibadan politician, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, and Dr. Andy Uba of Anambra State for allegedly recruiting gangs and cult groups to sow terror in their respective states during the last April general elections.
HRW called on the President Umaru Yar'Adua administration to make a serious effort to investigate and hold accountable politicians and government officials, including leading members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), allegedly implicated in human rights abuses.
"Systemic violence openly fomented by politicians and other political elite undermines the rights of Nigerians to freely choose their leaders and enjoy basic security. Corruption both fuels and rewards Nigeria's violent brand of politics at the expense of the general populace; and impunity is enjoyed by those responsible for these abuses that both denies justice to its victims and obstructs reform," the report stated.
The new report, authored by Mr. Chris Albin-Lackey, Senior Researcher, Africa Division of HRW, claimed that government at the federal level took limited steps in the direction of reform and that federal officials tolerated and often encouraged the rampant abuse seen at the state and local levels.
Before compiling its report, HRW conducted hundreds of interviews with government and police officials, civil society activists, gang members, politicians and political 'godfathers' and victims of human rights abuse.
The report said government institutions like EFCC responsible for investigating and prosecuting crime had failed to stem the tide of violence and that public officials in Nigeria could always expect to enjoy complete immunity for any crimes they may commit.
Mr. Peter Takirambudde, Africa Director of Human Rights Watch, claimed politicians, once in office, use their power to undermine basic human rights ad enrich themselves at the expense of Nigeria's impoverished populace.
He called on President Yar'Adua and the National Assembly to play a pivotal role in reversing the country's abusive patterns of governance.
In addition to the report, the global monitoring group in a three-page statement issued by the global group yesterday claimed that since the end of military rule, attorney-generals at both the state and federal levels have not brought charges against a single prominent politician for involvement in arming or fomenting political violence.
"The administration of President Yar'Adua is a product of Nigeria's fraudulent 2007 elections. Nonetheless, his government has embarked on the beginnings of a process of electoral reforms that holds out some hope of progress. However, the Federal Government has done nothing to end the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of Nigeria's worst abuses. The failure of Nigeria's 2007 elections is not a problem that can be dealt with in isolation," Takirambudde said.
The report claimed many seasoned observers have described the 2007 polls as being among the worst they had ever witnessed anywhere in the world, which reflected deeply-seated patterns of abuse that characterised the day-to-day conduct of many public officials; and claimed that it is only determined action to reform key institutions and tackle impunity that will achieve meaningful change in governance and respect for human rights.
"Nigeria's most serious problems of governance are all under-written by an all pervading climate of impunity that blocks change. One obvious place to start would be for the Federal Government to enact and aggressively implement the long-delayed Freedom of Information Bill. The Yar'Adua government should also safe-guard the independence of Nigeria's electoral reform panel," the report stated.
The report, which showcased field research in Anambra, Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Katsina, Lagos, Oyo and Rivers States, noted that the patterns of abuse in some of the states were among Nigeria's worst, and that the Federal Government's failure to tackle their underlying causes was common to the whole of the country.
Among several other recommendations in the report, the Federal Government was urged to launch a transparent and impartial inquiry into allegations of corruption, vote-rigging and sponsorship of political violence during the April polls; and to enact a law requiring the President, all National Assembly members and all ministers in the federal cabinet, and senior state and local government officials to issue public declarations of the total value of all personal assets.
HRW also called on the Federal Government to direct the Nigerian Police to immediately investigate serious allegations of corruption, mobilisation of political violence, electoral fraud and other crimes prior to the 2007 elections; and to propose an amendment to the Nigerian Constitution that will rescind the immunity from all criminal prosecution currently enjoyed by sitting Governors (Section 308 of 1999 Constitution).
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