Sensing that the executive might be engaged in a covert effort to
shield Maina, who is widely believed to be close to President Goodluck
Jonathan, the senate took the battle to the executive, asking it to
choose between Maina and the senate. The president’s special adviser on
media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, responded in a statement where he
denied that Jonathan was backing Maina, insinuating that the president
was handicapped in the circumstance, and insisting that only the Head of
Service could act against the pension taskforce head.
But barely 24 hours later, the president moved against Maina and
directed the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to commence
disciplinary action against him for absconding from duty. This seems
like an afterthought by a reluctant anticorruption campaigner. It
certainly does not portray Nigeria as a country seriously concerned
about fighting one of the most virulent causes of its
underdevelopment.
This back-and-forth coincides with the assertion by Chairman of the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission,
Ekpo Nta, that the country has enough laws but lacks the will to fight
corruption. “We have more than enough laws that will stamp corruption
out of our system but the problem is implementation. Implementing our
laws is the problem,” Nta said on Tuesday in a lecture he delivered at a
ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the Department of Political
Science, University of Ibadan. This should be food for thought for the
government – if the fight against corruption ranks highly on its
preferences. CULLED FROM www.thisdaylive.com
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