In November 2012, following the unwarranted attack he suffered from Steve Oransaye, a member of the Petroleum Revenue Task Force he headed, I wrote a commentary explaining why Malam Nuhu Ribadu, in my opinion, is a patriotic Nigerian that often finds himself in controversies that are hardly his fault. His recent decision to decamp from opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to contest the governorship election in Adamawa State is one of such moves misunderstood by many. While some of us have insisted there’s is a thin line between the two political parties and that Ribadu is not indebted to the opposition that humiliated him in 2011, I argue that the PDP is guilty of similar sins and there’s no guarantee he won’t be dishonoured again under its watch. I will, however, wish him luck with his ambition in Adamawa State. And I hope, if he wins, he would prove us, the doubting Thomases, wrong.
I have, therefore, reproduced my article below because I believe it is as relevant today as it was then. Enjoy reading.
Malam Nuhu Ribadu is no doubt a patriot that is often misunderstood and vilified even by those he calls friends. Since he came to national limelight during his tenure as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) he has been embroiled in a series of controversies, although none of which is clearly his fault.
When he was appointed the head of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force some commentators, suspicious of the government’s motive, advised him to be cautious while some went as far as urging him to turn it down. But Dr Aliyu Tilde’s piece, “Ribadu and the Fate of ‘Baidu” spoke in clear terms both about the danger of good people working under bad regimes and the likely changes their presence might bring. Tilde concluded his piece by using the Hausa parody, kamun gafiyar ‘Baidu, to draw Ribadu’s attention to both possibilities and how best he could avoid the negative one. But several months after, the big issue is whether Malam Ribadu learned any lesson or not.
Ribadu, it seems, often learns lessons the hard way. Recall his reign as EFCC chairman. Although no one can still point out one clear instance he soiled his hands with any form of corruption, directly, he was often accused of playing the attack dog for former President Olusegun Obasanjo; that he used his EFCC position to witch-hunt and subject to ‘trial by ordeal’ people perceived as Obasanjo’s enemies, real and imagined.
His immense influence was to boomerang when the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua assumed office and Ribadu was ingloriously removed as EFCC head and eventually humiliated out of the police force. Many blamed it on the now disgraced and imprisoned James Ibori and his colluder in government, Michael Aondoakaa. But if Segun Adeniyi’s book is anything to go by, the late president was as interested in getting rid of Ribadu as both Aondoakaa and Ibori were because the president believed he was one of those who had too much power in Obasanjo’s government.
The unfair treatment he received from the government then drew a lot of sympathy for him. Even the media that once vilified him suddenly began revealing a soft side. When there were claims that he owned properties in Britain and the Gulf it was the citizen media Sahara Reporters that first debunked the claim after independently investigating the matter.
But Ribadu was soon to plunge into another series of controversies when President Goodluck Jonathan reversed all the decisions taken by his predecessor against him, including his demotion and subsequent sack from the police. The trouble with the decision to reverse his demotion was it only addressed his case out of the 140 officers affected. And if the DIG (retired) Parry Osayande-led Police Service Commission had not spurned attempts he probably would have been fully reinstated. In the end the sack was converted to retirement.
Of all the controversies none has been as stunning as Nuhu Ribadu’s decision to contest the 2011 presidential election under the aegis of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a political party owned by a man he had indicted for corruption. In fact, Ribadu assumed some form of amnesia regarding his corruption allegation against Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Finally, he got the shocker of his life when the ACN traded off his position for only God knows what and Ribabu woefully lost in the election.
The defeat forced him to reclusion until he was appointed the head of the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, a position ACN asked him to reject but he chose to accept maybe as a payback for the treachery he suffered.
His decision to respond to a call to serve the nation is, again, a show of patriotism. But one’s fear was not his ability to deliver but the possibility of someone rubbishing his effort. Today, history has almost repeated itself, given the rather disrespectful manner a member of his Task Force, Steve Oransanye, interjected his presentation of the report to a president that hopes not to offend anyone even if it would amount to not doing the right thing.
Even though the president has vowed to implement its recommendations and has set up committees to draft white papers it is doubtful that we have not heard the last of the report. The truth is, there are too many vested interests to be affected and consigning Ribadu’s report to the trash bin of history could be a leeway.
Ribadu, conceivably, did not learn much from Tilde’s ‘Baidu parody, which might explain the controversy now trailing his report.
