Grandiose Parlor

This is a continuation of the “crimes of corruption” series, started with James Ibori and Chimaroke Nnamani.

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Nigeria is a nation of clever people, particularly those in positions of authority.

Check out Dr. Peter Odili (photo), the former Rivers state governor. In an attempt to avoid being investigated and prosecuted by the anti-corruption agency, EFCC, Odili has taken the offensive by going to court - asking for restraining order against the EFCC and the Nigerian government. In order words, he’s asking the court to keep the EFCC and Nigerian government away from him.

Restraining orders (R.O) are typically issued to protect the petitioner from “physical pain or threat of pain or injury”. My investigation shows that while it’s been issued generally against a family member (for example, husband, ex-husband, father of your child) or a household member, restraining orders can be issued to almost anyone as long the petitioner can make a good case.

Odili’s modus operandi is the first of its kind in Nigeria. Rather than waiting for the EFCC to file a case against him and prove himself innocent, or even running away from the EFCC, odil has decided to stay put and “build a wall” around himself.

Odili was a public servant, a two-time governor of Rivers state, an oil-rich state and the second richest state in Nigeria.

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch issued a report on Rivers state while Odili was the governor, excerpts:

The Rivers State government’s annual income has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years, fueled by dramatic increases in the price of oil. During the first eight months of 2006 the state government’s average monthly federal allocations topped N12.4 billion ($95.5 million), a figure that dwarfs the allocations received by most other Nigerian states. The 2006 state budget projected total government spending in excess of N168 billion ($1.3 billion ), double the amount the state had to spend as recently as 2004 and more than the annual budgets of several West African countries.
Much of this windfall has been lost to the extravagance, waste and corruption that characterize state government spending, a problem that is exemplified by the state’s 2006 budget. Enormous sums have been channeled into the office of Governor Peter Odili, often on terms so vague that it is impossible to determine what they are actually meant to be used for. Such items include:
• Budgets for unspecified “Grants, Contributions and Donations” and “Grants for Women, Youths and Other Organizations” to be handed out by the governor’s office at the rate of more than $91,000 per day or roughly N4.33 billion ($33.2 million) over the course of the year;
• A Security Vote of N5 billion (nearly $38.5 million); and
• N10 billion ($77 million) for unspecified “Special Projects,” an item that did not even exist in the 2005 budget.
Other items in the budget of the governor’s office are more specified but on their face show little apparent regard to legitimate state priorities, including:
• Transport and travel budgets that total more than $65,000 per day;
• Budgets for catering services; “Entertainment and Hospitality”; and “Gifts and Souvenirs for Visitors to Government House” that total N1.3 billion ($10 million)—more than the total annual budget of some local governments;
• N5 billion ($38.4 million) for the purchase of two helicopters and the construction of landing facilities—on top of 1.5 billion Naira that was allocated for the purchase of two jet aircraft in 2005.
• N1.5 billion ($11.5 million) for the purchase of new vehicles for Government House, even though N800 million was budgeted for this same purpose in 2005.
Added together, the above items alone constitute 17 percent of total state government spending in 2006, or more than N30.1 billion ($230 million), an amount that exceeds the total annual allocation given to many Nigerian states in 2005

By taking the offensive against the EFCC and seeking a R.O, isn’t this, by itself, a confirmation that he’s dirty, guilty, and trying so hard to hide his misdeed? I hope his lawyers reminded him that restraining orders only temporary!