Daily Independent (Lagos)
Rafiu Ajakaye
27 December 2008
analysis
Lagos — Nasir el-Rufai has no phobia for controversy. From his chairmanship of the much-detested Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to his ministerial stint at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), el-Rufai proved to be one of the most controversial, if not feared, hawks in government.
If he was not at loggerheads with colleagues at the Federal Executive Council (FEC), el-Rufai would be in the headlines attacking critics of the neo-liberal (imperialist) socio-economic and political agenda of former President Olusegun Obasanjo under whom he served.
Nicknamed "Giant" at the university in direct contrast to his diminutive stature, el-Rufai proved throughout his stint in government that he was capable of rocking the Nigerian political establishment.
Senators once bayed for his blood, demanding the sacking of the former minister after he called them "fools."
The enraged Senate went on strike for two days in 2004 and refused to accept Obasanjo's apology on his outspoken minister's behalf. By his own account, the 48-year-old comes from a humble family but was supported through school by a caring uncle.
Many of his classmates say he was a brilliant student and he graduated from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, with a degree in quantity surveying. El-Rufai went on to obtain an MBA from Harvard University in the United States and is doing a law degree in London.
After university he went into private practice and made his first millions while still in his 20s, he said in a recent interview.
The former minister's first break into politics came in 1998 during the transitional government, which followed the death of military ruler, General Sani Abacha.
Part of a think-tank used by General Abdulsalami Abubakar's military government, el-Rufai impressed many officials with his sharp mind, but his first big appointment in government came under Obasanjo, when he was put in charge of the unpopular privatisation agency.
Many believe he made his mark there as an effective technocrat-surrounding himself with brilliant young civil servants-as the agency carried out the privatisation of many government-owned companies.
His feisty character came to the fore when he challenged all those alleging foul play in the privatisation exercise to come forward and buttress their claims, and former President Obasanjo has had to intervene previously on el-Rufai's account, asking him to stop talking to the press after a very public quarrel with then Minister of Aviation, Kema Chikwe.
After the 2003 general elections, Obasanjo rewarded the zeal of the former privatisation czar when he nominated him to be the FCT Minister.
El-Rufai's uneasy relationship with the Senate began when he accused two senators in 2003 of asking him for a bribe before his nomination as a minister was approved. The senators denied the charge.
However, when the ensuing uproar died down, he was eventually cleared for the post to head the sensitive FCT.
In Abuja, el-Rufai pursued a number of programmes which have shaken both the ministry-better known for questionable corrupt land deals-and powerful landowners, although revelations in the recent time showed he could also be guilty of alleged official corruption.
He came to be known as "Mr. Demolition" for knocking down what his administration termed illegal buildings all over the capital city, where land prices are high.
He also cancelled all Abuja's title deeds issued since 1976 because of what he called huge land scams.
In place of the many illegal structures, Abuja now has many parks and gardens and its many beggars are now learning a trade at the government's expense.
Rufai's influence in Obasanjo's government did not stop with his official designation; he was considered a key member of the former president's economic team.
But his spat with the Senate in 2004-and lately in early 2008-shows that while he may be good at his job, el-Rufai needed to be more tactful in his relations with the political elite.
In April this year, el-Rufai had cause to appear before the celebrated Senate probe panel on the FCT during which allegations were made about (el-Rufai's) shady allocations of land to cronies and persons in government. He denied any wrongdoing, including abuse of office.
It was alleged that el-Rufai allocated one million square metres of land to Obasanjo, former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and himself. He was also alleged to have allocated lands in choice places to the Obasanjos and the el-Rufais-charges he vigorously denied.
Senate also told of how proceeds from the sales of Federal Government properties went into private pockets, aside the alleged questionable way the whole affairs were conducted.
El-Rufai had denied any wrongdoing and instead accused members of the panel of bias. He also related how certain senators were beneficiaries in the land allocation and how refusal to grant them certain privileges had provoked the probe that drew national attention. He said some of the senators bent on probing him had lost plots of land in the revocation exercise, and had suggested that Senate leadership replace members of the panel on the ground of "conflicts of interest."
El-Rufai allocated more than 27,000 plots of land in the FCT during his tenure, it was gathered then. Chief of Staff to the former Minister, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, had told journalists that though members of el-Rufai's family also got landed allocations, the minister committed no wrong in approving the allocations because it followed due process.
Lawal also said that the allocations to Obasanjo and Okonjo-Iweala followed due process.
For all he did as a minister, el-Rufai is today facing the music for alleged corruption-the very thing from which el-Rufai and his colleagues said they were immune and challenged any one with facts to the contrary to come forward.
It all started some weeks ago with an invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following petitions accusing the former minister of corruption and abuse of office. He was said to have shunned the invitation, saying on one hand that the Commission lacks the power to probe him and pleading on the other that he be given the grace at a later date because of his studies in London. The latest is the allegation of witch-hunt.
Last week, the Commission threatened to place him on World Watch list, and had issued the ultimatum after el-Rufai repeatedly failed to honour invitations to explain his alleged involvement in economic crimes and abuse of office in the sale of government houses in 2005.
The EFCC disclosed early this month that El-Rufai sent in his lawyer with a letter requesting that all questions be communicated through the lawyer.
But the Commission declined the request and insisted that he appear in person or face the consequences.
He is also being asked to account for the balance of N32 billion in the sale of government houses in Abuja and all funds collected by the Satellite Towns Development Agency as well as Abuja Investments and Property Development Company.
Early this week, el-Rufai told the EFCC that he will not return to the country to honour its invitation until he completes his studies in the United Kingdom. He said even though the EFCC has no power to investigate him, it could seize his passport and scuttle his academic pursuit abroad if he were to appear before commission at this point.
He had told the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) last weekend: "I'll not leave my studies and the rest and go back to Nigeria for them to seize my passport so that I will not complete my studies. I know what they are up to, they have done such a thing to some of our friends.
"The EFCC said it will contact the Interpol to look for me, but I will not go back to Nigeria until I complete my studies. It said the Interpol should look for me wherever I am. Everybody knows where I am; I am not in hiding for anyone to look for me.
"The EFCC knows I am studying; my lawyer has written to it formally, and we have taken it to court because it is investigating me.
"The law does not permit it to investigate me. If a governor directed the allocation of plots, can the EFCC investigate why he should give such a directive?"
El-Rufai wondered why the EFCC should be after him, having served the nation meritoriously during the last administration.
"I don't know why they are after me; but I know that this government is our friend, our brother. When we were in government we ensured that we fixed the right people, and we supported President Umaru Yar'Adua.
"I know in government there are so many things that will be done without his (Yar'Adua's) knowledge; but there is no way he will not be aware of what they are doing to us.
"There are those who like what is happening, there are those who dislike what is happening; but nobody will say they are not aware of it."
Then came the hammer. The EFCC reacted by declaring him wanted despite his protest that he did nothing wrong when he was FCT Minister.
He "is wanted for abuse of office and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N32 billion. (He failed) to honour a simple invitation from the commission to respond to weighty allegations levelled against him in petitions being investigated," said EFCC Spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement issued last Sunday.
But el-Rufai countered through his counsel, A.U. Mustapha that there is a lawsuit challenging the EFCC, and that it should not undermine the course of justice.
"The case was filed on December 15, 2008, and service was effected on the EFCC the following day. A letter to that effect was written to Tunde Ogunsakin, EFCC's Director of Operations, to notify the EFCC of the pending suit. We requested the commission to stay action pending the determination of the suit," Mustapha said in his statement.
The EFCC had requested el-Rufai to appear on November 28, but he wrote back through his counsel to ask the Commission to send its questions to him because he could not afford to miss his studies in the United Kingdom.
This prompted the EFCC to give him another three weeks of grace.
"But instead of seizing the opportunity to respond to the weighty allegations against him, he has resorted to a hide and seek game, and an appalling show of impunity on the pages of newspapers," Babafemi added.
El-Rufai is carrying his latest cross just as his friend his friend and fellow hawk in the Obasanjo administration, Nuhu Ribadu, was dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday. Ribadu, whose headship of the EFCC drew conflicting reactions nationwide, had towed a similar path as el-Rufai in response to invitations by both the anti-graft agency and the Police authorities over allegations that border on corruption and insubordination.
If this is a payback time for the Obasanjo boys, analysts wait to see how it all plays out and who wins between Nigeria's untouchable 'big boys' and controversial apostles of due process.
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