Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) has released a report showing that 14 former state governors, eight erstwhile ministers and special advisers, and five senators were among the 100 high-profile Nigerians either convicted of or investigated for N21.63 trillion and $47.4 billion fraud in the past 15 years.
The report entitled ‘A compendium of 100 high profile corruption cases in Nigeria’ dated November 22, 2022 and supported by MacArthur Foundation, also disclosed that 73 other suspects were outside of the three categories.
HEDA also stated that men were involved in N7.9 trillion and $17.8 billion of the alleged corruption, women, N8.9 trillion and $20 billion and corporate organisations, N4.2 billion and $9.6 billion.
The 77- page document which documents cases between 2007 and 2022, further disclosed that of the 100 cases considered, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) handled 79, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences (ICPC), 13; Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), one apiece and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), none.
It stated that 63% of the corruption cases representing 63 cases concern fraud, 20 (20%), money laundering, 6 (6%), corruption, 5 (5%), misappropriation of funds, 4 (4%), embezzlement while 1 (1%) is bribery and forgery, each.
On the status of the cases, the largest number, 61, are said to be ongoing as of the date of publication (November 22, 2022), 10 pending, two dismissed, 11 persons sentenced, and property of one seized while two cases are stalled.
There were also 12 convicted cases out of which some were later discharged by higher courts while one case is still being investigated.
On the cases that are either ongoing or pending, the document notes that those involving all 14 former governors are ongoing while nine are pending.
Also, 16 other government officials have their cases ongoing while 10 are pending.
On the amounts involved, the report indicated that 88 of the cases are below N100 billion each while four are between N100 billion and N200 billion each.
The report also noted a significant difference in the distribution of charges.
Most of the former governors are facing charges of fraud, money laundering and misappropriation of funds.
There was also a significant difference in the amounts involved.
For instance, while the 14 former governors and 36 other defendants were involved in less than N100 billion each, two former ministers/ special advisers were involved in over N700 billion in alleged corruption cases, an amount the report described as staggering.
Similarly, of the 100 corruption cases considered, the highest year of case inception was 2022 with 24% whereas 2017 recorded the lowest (7%).
It was also observed that there was no major difference between the amount involved in the cases and the status of the cases.
For instance, of the 100 cases with amounts below N100 billion examined, 36 are ongoing, 20 are pending, nine have been dismissed, while eight defendants were sentenced.
However, four who were initially convicted, were later discharged by a higher court.
Three of the cases went through plea bargaining, while five are still under investigation.
In the preface to the report, HEDA’s chairman, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju said: “The motivation for this compendium in 2017 was derived from the major concern for the cascading morality in the society with assorted nauseating manifestations.
“It became a regular practice celebrating those notorious for corruption and financial crime offences in the country such that those accused are not only revered and celebrated and elevated by social and religious institutions, but societies also elect them into otherwise respectable offices.”
He noted that the 2019 elections still saw the election of suspects in corruption and financial crimes as governors in some states.
“Obviously, the proceed of crime is used by suspected politically exposed persons to purchase immunity from prosecution and delay the trial to escape public attention and possible justice,” he added.
Olanrewaju also said the HEDA team was not insulated from threats and harassment in the course of gathering information contained in the compendium.
“For us at HEDA Resource Centre, researching, documenting and publishing this compendium has remained a remarkable achievement in the face of threats and harassment.”
However, he said: “We have received impressive and remarkable accolades for the unprecedented and bold move inherent in the publication and so are criticisms and threats from those affected by the audacity of this action.
“Our underlining objective, as stated from inception, was not to pass any verdict on any of the accused. Rather, this is to document and assist the public, the media, especially those with a knack for insightful backgrounding as well as researchers with information handy enough for easy reference purposes.
“Remarkable achievement of the compendium as we progress was the use by international law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States as background for investigation into some corruption and illicit assets recovery cases for Nigeria.”
