Shocking is the appropriate word to describe the news that Alex Badeh the former Chief of Defence Staff has secured a bail in the sum of #2b and two sureties in the sum of #1b each from the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
This clearly shows the problems inherent in our Judicial system as most Nigerians who are charged of petty theft are jailed on an hourly basis in every court in the country, while the likes of Alex Badeh, Uche Secondus, Oliseh Metu , Abba Moro and Raymond Dokpeshi are granted bail on self recognition. It makes no sense for the Nigerians to be told in detail how these individuals defrauded the country and yet at the end their charges dropped as the are acquitted and discharged .
This is not to say that Badeh is guilty but it is shocking how ordinary citizens are repeatedly told how corrupt their leaders are by the international community , media and press and even the judiciary yet the same judiciary acquit and discharge any accused brought to court at the slightest instance .
Is it that there is no corrupt official in the country ? Or that corruption has suddenly fled from the country? Or is it that the EFCC has failed to build a strong case which will convic these corrupt politicians and government officials? How come the weak EFCC as the court has made them look get convictions on young boys accused of internet fraud , yet the same cannot be said of those who have brought pains and sorrows to us as leaders ?
There is surely something missing in the puzzle as several Judges of the Nigerian High Court are presently accused of accepting material gifts from accused which has Inturn swearved their judgement. To make it easier for comprehension , the case of James Ibori will be used as a case study. Ibori was a former Governor of Oil rich Delta State which received the third highest annual allocation from the federal government . Ibori was accused of all manner of corrupt practices while as governor and when the EFCC did the needful by arresting and charging him to court, the same Nigerian court granted him bail then discharged and acquitted him of all charges. To embarass Nigeria and show how deep the rot in our Nigerian judicial system has gone, Ibori was subsequently arrested in the UK , tried for money laundering and jailed in no distant time with his choice properties confisticated. What this clearly means is that there is a certain third unwritten law that past government officials cannot be convicted in Nigerian courts ?
It seems this present government and the EFCC is only wasting it's time trying to arrest and charge suspects to court for them to be released on self recognition only after two court sessions. Something is really wrong with a system which confirms that indeed the nation was defrauded by certain individuals yet fails to convict them.
Note that Alex Badeh was arrested and charged to court by the EFCC for the diversion of $2b meant for arms procurement and military funding against the Insurgency in the North East.
With recent events it is safe to say that the judiciary has overtaken such institutions embroiled in corruption like Customs, Immigration and Police.
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