Gen. Ibrahim BabangidaThe Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has forwarded to the Attorney -General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), a signed copy of the Dr. Pius Okigbo panel report which indicted a former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, of mismanaging a whopping $12.4bn that Nigeria earned from the crude oil sales during the 1991 gulf war.
SERAP, a coalition of 10 civil society groups, said in a statement that it sent the report to Adoke because it believed that he would take necessary action on it by prosecuting Babangida.
The AGF had in response to a petition sent to him by the group in April, requested for a signed copy of the report. He assured that he would take appropriate action once he received the signed copy of the document.
In a covering letter accompanying the 352-page report, SERAP said it expected Adoke to act promptly on the matter.
A part of the letter dated May 5 reads, “Now that we have gone the extra mile to fulfil the request by the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, we expect that he would now move swiftly to prosecute the former military President, Gen. Babangida, on the basis of the Okigbo report, and ensure justice to the victims of the mismanagement and corruption documented in the report. Time is now of essence; any further delay would be justice delayed, which as you know, is justice denied.”
It told the minister to specifically note pages 208 to 234 of the signed report, which contain “clear and strong statements, which constitute an indictment that cannot and should not be swept under the carpet for the sake of justice, and in the interest of the present and future generations.”
The group added, “We believe the report was never missing but has remained in the custody of the government for years. We note that it was the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo that first used the word ‘missing’ apparently to cover up the outcome of the diligent investigation carried out by the panel which was headed by the late Dr. Pius Okigbo .
“We, therefore, state that what has been missing is not the Okigbo report but the political will by successive governments to act decisively on the report, and by so doing, demonstrate to the international community that when it comes to the fight against corruption in this country, there will be no sacred cows.”
SERAP had, in response to Adoke’s request for a signed copy of the report on April 27, said that the minister’s “interest in this case demonstrates the willingness by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to exercise the requisite political will to translate into action, his oft-repeated commitment to sanction corruption and tackle the impunity of perpetrators, which is the single most important factor for the prevalence of high level official corruption in the country.”
It had advised Adoke to use his “good offices and leadership as the chief law officer of the federation to obtain the original copy of the report from the cabinet office through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.”
“We believe that accessing or obtaining the original copy of the Okigbo report is a public function, which would be best performed through the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice,” the group added.
It said that it was calling for the prosecution of Babangida because, the “mismanagement of the $12.4bn windfall has continued to undermine the value of the naira, precipitating underdevelopment and poverty, and impacting negatively on the living standards of millions of Nigerians, especially the most vulnerable sectors of society.”
The groups that make up SERAP are the Women Advocates and Documentation Centre; Access to Justice; Committee for Defence of Human Rights; Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre; Partnership for Justice; Human and Environmental Development Agenda; Nigeria Liberty Forum; Nigeria Voters Assembly; and Centre for the Rule of Law.
source: http://www.punchng.com/
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