Nigeria struggles with graft controversy

Blanket coverage of the violence engulfing Kenya has kept a far subtler power struggle playing out on the other side of Africa far from the headlines.

But the ousting of Nigeria’s top anti-corruption investigator, like the mayhem in Nairobi’s slums, could send ripples across the continent’s borders.

Shock, outrage and, in some quarters, relief, greeted news that Nuhu Ribadu was being sent on a year-long training course in the midst of launching the biggest graft prosecutions ever seen in Nigeria, perhaps in Africa. Although far from universally popular, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was credited with doing the most to bring some of the country’s hitherto untouchable politicians to book. His transfer has fed a perception that powerful members of Nigeria’s political class, stunned by his unprecedented attack on their networks of power, have engineered an attempt to have him sidelined.

The news has also revived questions over whether President Umaru Yar’Adua has the authority to impose his will on an elite with little interest in his pledges of “zero tolerance” for corruption, or in his broader reform agenda.

Judges at an election tribunal are due to decide in the next few months on whether to order a re-run of Mr Yar’Adua’s victory at polls in April, which was marred by violence and fraud, further adding to the uncertainty.

“This government is built on quicksand,” said Uche Onyeagucha, a former legislator and human rights campaigner. “The Ribadu case shows that the president is unable to stand up to the people who put him in power.”

Mr Ribadu’s dogged pursuit of corrupt officials earned him a household name in a country where politicians have stolen billions of dollars of state revenue from vast oil reserves, leaving the majority trapped in poverty. The previous president, Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed Mr Ribadu to head the EFCC when it was created in mid-2003 as part of wider reforms to overhaul the economy.

Just as bloodshed in Kenya has muted talk in the investment community of an African economic renaissance, Mr Ribadu’s ticket to a remote training institute has raised worries abroad about the future of reforms in Nigeria. “We are concerned about the timing and motivation for this decision,” said a US diplomat.

The announcement, in late December, came two weeks after Mr Ribadu’s agents arrested James Ibori, a key supporter of Mr Yar’Adua’s election campaign and a former governor of the oil-producing Delta State. Mr Ibori, seen as one of the most powerful men in Nigeria, pleaded not guilty to 103 counts of money laundering. He remains in custody.

Mr Ribadu had already caused a sensation by charging five other former state governors who lost their immunity when they stepped down at the elections. The EFCC also charged a seventh governor last month.

Mr Ribadu’s transfer so soon after Mr Ibori’s arrest immediately raised suspicions that the president was seeking to shield his campaign ally. But sources within both the presidency and the EFCC agree that Mr Yar’Adua did not initiate moves to remove Mr Ribadu. The president has, however, faced criticism from anti-corruption campaigners for approving a request made by his superiors in the police force for Mr Ribadu to start the course in February.

It may be premature to declare the anti-corruption fight dead. Mr Ribadu, though zealous, was far from perfect. Mr Obasanjo’s use of the EFCC to target his political opponents cost him much credibility. And the fact that the commission charged an eighth governor last week – a man also seen as a big backer of Mr Yar’Adua – has bolstered the case of those who warn against overestimating Mr Ribadu’s importance.

The big question now is whether Mr Yar’Adua will appoint someone who will ensure that prosecutions launched by Mr Ribadu continue, or choose a less tenacious replacement. As for Mr Ribadu, he may feel his catchphrase is more apt than ever: “When you fight corruption, it fights back.”