In June 2011 the EFCC
arrested Dimeji Bankole, former speaker of the House of Representatives, and
Deputy Speaker Usman Nafada for the alleged misappropriation of one billion
naira ($6.4 million) and 40 billion naira ($256 million) respectively. The case
continued throughout the year, but the court adjourned the trial until January
2013.
In October 2011 the
EFCC arrested four former governors who vacated office earlier in the year,
including former Ogun governor Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former Oyo governor Chief
Adebayo Alao-Akala, former Nasarawa governor Alhaji Aliyu Akwe Doma, and former
Gombe governor Muhammed Danjuma Goje. The four allegedly misappropriated or
stole 58 billion naira ($372 million), 25 billion naira ($160 million), 18
billion naira ($115 million), and 12.8 billion naira ($82 million),
respectively. Their trials began in December 2011 and continued at year’s end.
On February 27,
former Delta State governor James Ibori pled guilty to charges in the Southwark
Crown Court in London to charges of money laundering and other financial crimes
totaling 12.4 billion naira ($79 million) he had committed during his eight
years in office. On April 17, the court sentenced Ibori to 13 years in prison.
Soon after the court announced Ibori’s conviction, the EFCC issued a statement
it intended to pursue a case against Ibori in Nigerian courts.
The FOIA, signed into
law in May 2011, allows any person to request information from a government
office. The office must grant access to the information, explain why access was
denied within seven days of receiving the request, or transfer the request to
the appropriate office within three days. The FOIA makes it the responsibility
of all public offices to keep records and provides immunity for public officers
against any form of civil or criminal proceeding for “disclosure in good faith
of any information” pursuant to the FOIA. The act provides a 30-day window
within which anyone denied access by any public institution can bring the
matter to court for a judicial review. The act includes a fine of 500,000 naira
($3,200) for any institution or public officer who wrongfully denies access to
information or records. Destruction of records is a felony punishable by a
minimum penalty of one year’s imprisonment under the act.
Civil society groups continued
to introduce an increasing number of cases at the national and state level to
test the FOIA during the year. Despite the number of cases introduced, there
was only one reported successful prosecution during the year.
On March 1, in
response to one such FOIA case, a federal high court ordered the EFCC to
disclose its sources of information regarding allegations it had made against
former president of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights Olasupo Ojo.
Specifically, the EFCC, then under the leadership of Farida Waziri, had accused
Ojo, a vocal critic of Waziri, of compromising himself and the committee by
collecting 52 million naira ($337,000) from persons under investigation by the
EFCC. The EFCC had not complied with the order by year’s end.
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