By Egwu Kene
History has a name for what Nigeria is currently living through. In 1970, Indonesia’s President, Suharto commissioned an inquiry into the state oil company whose director general, Sutowo, had diverted revenues to military, political and personal interests spanning 37 companies. Suharto received the report which indicted the establishment and ignored it. Sutowo remained director for six more years, having been cleared of all wrongdoings by the president. Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines ran an identical regime: partisan enforcements, hollowed judiciary, suppressed opposition, and looting of public treasury.
The Tinubu administration’s anti-graft war is not fictional. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC recovered over ₦566b, $411million, and 1,502 properties; Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences, ICPC: ₦37.44 billion and $2.35million. Betta Edu was suspended over ₦585 million. Timipre Sylva was declared wanted over $14.86 million. In 2024, EFCC reopened cases against 13 former governors over a combined ₦853.8b in alleged misappropriation. Notice the pattern: all are either a former official, a discarded ally, or a political opponent. The enforcement is real. The selection is surgical.
Now observe where the same enforcement goes blind: the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL’s ₦210 trillion unaccounted for and non-appearance of Mele Kyari at the Senate, $2.7 billion refinery rehabilitation contracts, £14.3 million spent on NNPCL’s London office, ₦12.7 billion unremitted operating surplus, and $51 million paid to contractors “in questionable circumstances.” The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN allegedly owes the Federal Government ₦5.3 trillion in unremitted operating surplus. The Fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, PFIPC agency scam involving Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, of which the President has absolved him of any wrongdoings.
Of all these scandals, the David Umahi saga is perhaps the most striking – because it involves not just money but human lives. The five NELAN Consulting Limited engineers whose missing bodies have not been found till date, the mysterious and sudden death of Mary Habila – the physiotherapist/nurse whose naked and lifeless body with blood stains was found inside Umahi’s residence in Ebonyi State, are good examples. No single arrest/prosecution of the man at the centre of it all, rather, this administration honours and rewards persons with questionable records insofar as they “belong”.
A government that can point to real recoveries and still scores 26% on Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index – 142nd of 182 nations, behind 33 African countries, is a government whose anti-graft crusade the public has read correctly. Indonesia ran this script for decades before external pressure and street protests ended it. It ended in shambles in Philippines. In Nigeria, 2027 is building up in similar trajectory; the ballot has the answers! Obi-Kwankwaso is the answer. Choose wisely!
Egwu Kene writes for PO Express Media, POEM
