MAINA'S RECALL, DISMISSAL AND A WEAK PARODY OF AN ANTI CORRUPTION CRUSADE.

In my Constitutional Law classes back then, perhaps, the most notorious example of the failure of Institutions in Nigeria was Abdulrasheed Maina who was then the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms.
With regard to what might have been said in other news outlets, Maina was accused of embezzling pension funds and for that period in our National discourse, he was the most vilified public officer.
The Senate in exercise of their oversight functions guaranteed in Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended invited him to investigate the allegations against him but as if to rub salt in the injury he had done to Nigerians through his ignoble ways, he flagrantly ignored the invitations of the Senate by giving such flimsy excuses as ill health (which of course is the go to excuse of Nigerian thieving elites when the law appears to be catching up with them) and a busy schedule.
Things got to a head when the Senate issued an arrest warrant for him with the EFCC also declaring him wanted and in the midst of that, he disappeared from the limelight and that was the end of the matter as Nigerians, true to character, moved on with life.
About the time that Maina was a major proof of the failure of Institutions in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari was campaigning to be the President of Nigeria against the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan on the almost solitary message of anticorruption and like almost everyone at the time, he condemned how the then President's body language was wholly permissive of not just Maina's escapedes but of corruption in Nigeria generally.
About two years after Muhammadu Buhari came to power on a messianic perception of being an anti corruption czar, things have fallen apart and more than anyone else, those of us who passionately stood by him have literally been put to shame as his performance in the anti corruption war can be described as sterile, frustrating, annoying, depressing and discouraging, and we are left wondering whether we made an error of Judgement by standing with him.
Sometime last week, I saw a news headline on twitter about the recall and more painfully, the promotion of Abdulrasheed Maina in the Federal Ministry of Interior and somehow, I refused to click on the link because I wanted to be totally oblivious of the President's new low: I refreshed my twitter feeds severally, hoping I would see another tweet which discountenanced it but I was disappointed as the different handles started tweeting about their disappointment in the Presidency.
I looked to get an official response from the Presidency but what I got was a tame attempt to go through the usual "an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty" route.
Of course, this argument will make sense but only in the Court of Law.
In the court of public opinion, Maina is guilty as charged and should be sentenced to death by stoning.
One might argue that the Court of Law prevails over the Court of public opinion but for a President who rode to power on the wings of a radical anti corruption war, recalling a person who was accused of embezzling funds meant to pay senior citizens who had devoted their active lifetimes to serving Nigeria certainly makes such a President an accessory in the eyes of the public.
Of course, this is not Law but it is not law that elects a President: it is the people and in more organized societies, the law is a reflection of the pulse and opinions of the People.
Maina's recall has been quashed by none other than the President and the President's handlers would be quick to laud and present the President as being decisive and showing no tolerance for anything that will portray him as accommodating corruption and corruptive tendencies.
However, come 2019, Nigerians will want to know how Maina was recalled without the President's knowledge.
What's more? Nigerians will want to know why it took the President as much as two days to quash Maina's recall after the story became public knowledge.
And of course, Nigerians will be interested in knowing how many heads rolled because of the ill fated recall of Maina.
For now, the President and his handlers can revel in the "heroic" dismissal of Maina but they should also be ready to answer the bigger questions come 2019.

Wilson-Okereke Elochukwu Clinton
500 level Law Student,
University of Benin.
Twitter handle is: @CLINTONELOCHUK1