him on his plans to tackle corruption, THISDAY can exclusively reveal.
Named as the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption, investigation by
THISDAY reveals that the committee will be formally inaugurated this Monday at the
Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Members of the committee are drawn largely from the academia.
They are Professor Femi Odekunle, a professor of Criminology at the Ahmadu Bello
University; Dr. (Mrs) Benedicta Daudu of the University of Jos; Professor Etannibi
Alamika, a professor of Criminology and Sociology from the University of Jos; and
Professor Sadia Radda also a professor of Criminology.
Others are Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), a professor of Law and a fierce commentator
on national issues; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, also a professor of Law at the Nigerian
Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; and Mrs. Hadiza Bala Usman.
Curiously, no judge either sitting or retired made the list, a development that is causing
disquiet among judges.
Many on the bench consider the president’s decision not to include one of their own in
the committee as a vote of no confidence on the bench.
The president’s decision to exclude members of the bench from such an important
committee may not be unconnected to his experience with the judiciary when he
challenged three previous elections he contested in 2003, 2007 and 2011, a presidency
source familiar with the development told THISDAY.
While challenging the results of presidential elections in which his opponents were
declared winners, Buhari attended courts religiously and was able to assess judges
closely.
He was said to have been disappointed with the way judges denied even the obvious
while ruling against him.
During his recent visit to the United States of America, Buhari's conviction that the
Nigerian bench stinks of corruption was further confirmed by the United States' Attorney
General, Loretta Lynch.
Also, the US Department of State made it clear to Buhari that the judiciary must be
purged of corrupt judges before he could expect the US to collaborate with him.
Details of the committee’s mandates will emerge today after the inauguration.
Professor Odekunle is a 1968 graduate of the University of Ibadan and bagged his
Ph.D. in sociology and social psychiatry from the University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, in the United States in 1974.
He taught at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Kaduna State, from 1970 to early
1990. In 1994, he was appointed Chairman, Advisory Committee to Chief of General
Staff (CGS), General Oladipo Diya, on Socio-Political and Economic Matters.
Known as an avid opponent of corruption, Odekunle organised the first Anti-corruption
Conference in Nigeria in 1987 bringing together not only people in government but petty
traders on the streets to address the issue.
He is the author of Fighting Corruption and Organised Crime in Nigeria.
Etannibi Alemika is a professor of Criminology and Sociology of Law, specialising in
criminology, sociology of law, criminal justice reform, policy and practice, and security
governance.
He holds BSc and MSc degrees in Sociology from the University of Ibadan, and an MSc
and PhD in Criminology from the Department of Social System Sciences, Wharton
Business School at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is a board member of several professional and academic organisations, including
CLEEN Foundation in Nigeria; African Civilian Policing Oversight Forum (APCOF); and
Altus Global Alliance, and a member of the American Society of Criminology and
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Owasanoye is an erudite Professor of Law. He graduated from the University of Ife, Ile-
lfe in 1984 with an LL.B (Hons) Upper Division and was called to the Bar in Nigeria in
1985.
He obtained an LL.M from the University of Lagos in 1987 and holds the following
certificates: Legal Aspects of Debt and Financial Management from the United Nations
Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) (1991); Legislative Drafting from the Royal
Institute of Public Administration in the UK and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal
Studies 1992; and Negotiation of international Trade Agreements from the International
Law Institute, Washington.
Sagay is a distinguished legal scholar, a professor of Law and human rights activist,
and a former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Benin.
He is a constitutional law expert and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). A prolific
writer, Sagay has written many books and countless articles.
In a related development, the president has ordered all federal ministries, departments
and agencies (MDAs) to pay all government revenues, incomes and other receipts into a
Treasury Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the directive, this measure is aimed at promoting transparency and
facilitating compliance with Sections 80 and 162 of the constitution.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President, Media and Publicity,
Laolu Akande, said all receipts due to the federal government or any of its agencies
must be paid into the TSA or designated accounts maintained and operated in the
CBN, except otherwise expressly approved.
A TSA is a unified structure of government bank accounts enabling consolidation and
optimal utilisation of government cash resources.
It is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which the government
transacts all its receipts and payments and gets a consolidated view of its cash
position at any given time.
Agencies like the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Civil Aviation
Authority (NCAA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria
Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Department
of Petroleum Resources (DPR), among others, are affected by the directive.
According to the statement, the directive will end the era of several fragmented
accounts for government revenues, incomes and receipts, which in the recent past had
resulted in losses or leakages of legitimate income meant for the Federation Account.
Buhari had earlier promised state governors at the inaugural meeting of the National
Economic Council (NEC) in June, that all revenues prescribed for lodgment into the
Federation Account would be treated as such under his watch and that he would ensure
strict compliance with all relevant laws on accounting, allocation and disbursement.
Since then, the presidency has worked with relevant agencies of the federal government
to evolve this policy directive.
This directive applies to fully funded organs of government like the MDAs and
foreign missions, as well as partially funded ones, like teaching hospitals, medical
centres, federal tertiary institutions, etc.
For any agency that is fully or partially self-funding, sub-accounts linked to the TSA are
to be maintained at CBN and the accounting system will be configured to allow them
access to funds based on their approved budgetary provisions, the statement said.
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