The clarification of the police image maker would have seemed plausible and somewhat acceptable as what truly transpired if we were not a low-trust society and led and policed by people to whom lies, deception, theft and palpable lack of scruple are traits to joyfully embody and not some unsavoury self-indulgence to be severely punished
Our Nigeria is a lot like Indian rubber. A little causes it to swell and a lot will not burst it or make it snap. This makeup is what makes Nigeria intriguing in a troubling kind of way, and keeps the outside world on tenterhooks or in suspense. Our seeming penchant for absurdities leaves people in more rational and sensible climes gasping for air. Happenings here confound one’s mind. Occurrences often defy logic. Even a gifted writer with the most imaginative or fecund mind will have a hard time conjuring up something stranger than the events that this country relentlessly churns out.
The surreality of the intrigues is both fascinating and troubling. Earlier this week a report emerged in the media that the Anambra State government transferred a staggering N100 million to the Zenith Bank account of Victor Egbetokun, the son of the immediate past Inspector General of police, Kayode Egbetokun. No one can tell what the money is for and it is more difficult to comprehend why a state government will send money to the bank account of the son of the nation’s former chief law enforcer.
The outrage to such galling misuse and transfer of public wealth to an individual with no connection to the state was immediate and ferocious. However, those who were stunned and exasperated by the revelation of the Anambra state government’s financial impropriety are not oblivious to the fact that when it comes to corruption, impropriety, larceny and impunity the relationship between Nigeria’s ruling class is incestuous as it transcends tribe, state or profession.
As the report of the transfer gained traction and the attention of more people was drawn, the police were forced to speak on the matter. In an attempt to explain away what many now believe to be an unjustifiable corrupt enrichment of outsiders at the expense of struggling and impoverished Anambra residents, the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, downplayed the furore and hysteria that has greeted the saga, noting the transfer was an innocuous banking error which was promptly corrected.
Hundeyin, who spoke on Channels Television on Tuesday evening, stated that Victor noticed the N100 million, alerted his accounts officer, reversed the funds immediately, printed his bank statement as proof, and even wrote a petition to the EFCC demanding an investigation. The clarification of the police image maker would have seemed plausible and somewhat acceptable as what truly transpired if we were not a low-trust society and we were not led and policed by people to whom lies, deception, theft and palpable lack of scruple are traits to joyfully embody and not some unsavoury self-indulgence to be severely punished. Many would have found the rebuttal of Hundeyin believable if the police had not acquired an unsettling reputation of being notoriously shady and disreputable.
The invidiousness of Hundeyin’s claim of oversight and mistake can only be matched by the galling confidence with which he made it. Even the staunchest supporter of the Nigerian police, and they do not have many, will be incredulous and will find the cover story of the police disgustingly insulting to their intelligence. Let’s assume without conceding that indeed the Anambra State government mistakenly transferred a huge chunk of its security votes to the wrong account because erroneous bank transfers are unheard of and are not inevitable in our financial system. However, the circumstances surrounding this particular erroneous bank transfer saga and the characters involved in it make the story of simple financial transaction oversight implausible. It strains credulity in ways that will definitely pique the interest of incredulous Nigerians and even seasoned financial crime investigators.
Nigeria has over 200 million people with more than 50 million of the citizens owning a bank account. The Anambra State government did not erroneously credit any of the other 50 million account owners with N100 million from its security votes but the son of Nigeria’s number one internal security official. Security vote accounts are not standard or regular payroll accounts. They are tightly controlled, politically sensitive pools of funds meant for sensitive and confidential security operations. The cumbersome and meticulous process, the bureaucratic chain required to sanction a transfer from such an account is not as simple and straightforward as punching a letter on a phone’s keyboard. Someone, somewhere, inputted a specific account number. That account number belonged to the son of the nation’s top police officer
Aside from the longstanding distrust and deep-seated resentment majority of Nigerians harbour towards the police institution, another reason why many do not believe the explanation offered by the police on the bank transfer saga is the former IGPs’ own catalogue of scandals, missteps, intransigence and impunity. From an alleged secret romantic relationship with his female orderly to using his position to hand undeserved promotion to the said orderly which saw her get elevated from ASP to DSP in a relatively short period without undergoing the mandatory mental, physical and academic rigours of bagging these promotions.
Also, rather than welcoming an independent investigation into the bank transaction saga, the police response has been to go on the defensive. A court injunction was secured restraining Sowore and SaharaReporters, who broke the story, from further publications on the matter. Critics argued that someone with nothing to hide would welcome transparency. For an institution that has struggled to gain the trust of the people who always treat it with suspicion and distrust, the actions and moves of the police in the aftermath of the Sahara Reporter revelation do not inspire confidence and only serve to deepen Nigerians resentment and disillusionment towards it.