BUHARI: A 2 YEAR JOURNEY TO NOWHERE

Its half way through the Buhari Presidency and its performance can best be captured in these words of Prof. Charles Soludo : "They inherited a bad situation but they have made it several times worse".

At the start of President Buhari's reign in office, he made diversification of the economy a priority and agriculture seemed destined for a major boost.But the thing is,every government from 1999 had promised us that and where it was impossible to defend their failure with fictitious figures , they have resorted to taking the only out-"diversification won't happen overnight, its a gradual process".While other administrations may have had the luxury of not being under any pressure due to the steady influx of petro-dollars,Buhari's was a peculiar case as he was not only coming in at a time when oil prices had taken a massive hit,he was doing so at a time majority of Nigerians felt they had voted out the PDP for a man of integrity and honour who would restore back lost glory.

So far,we have not seen a '911' approach to agriculture.A lot of people expected the government to identify key produce and work assiduously towards upheaving their production. Sadly, the government seems to have identified just one and that is rice.While agreeing local rice will reduce our dependence on foreign rice and consequently boost the economy,emphasis must be placed on more exportable produce as well if indeed agriculture is to become an alternate means of income.A critical look at the international players in the rice market will reveal we aren't going to be close any time soon even at thrice the  rate we are moving and it would be better if we focus on a lot more.Even with a tiny scope of focus,it amazes at how the government has still managed to underwhelm as far as 'rice' is concerned.It has failed to keep its promise of making the country fully rice sufficient by 2016 and its promise of food suffiency by 2019 appears unrealistic as well.Its decision to ban rice importation through the land borders was greeted by heavy criticisms that have proved justified.It was too early in the rice 'project' as was proven by the recent decision to lift the ban and it sickens to know that many suffering Nigerians didn't have to have their problems compounded by that ban.

The transport minister,Rotimi Amaechi commended the previous administration for embarking on a number of meaningful projects and I wonder if at this rate,anyone in the next administration would do same to Buhari's.On paper it has sang its praises for devoting record funds to capital expenditure but that is where it has stayed; On paper.Nigerians are yet to see an effective utilization of those funds as this government can hardly point to any tangible achievement befitting its allocation for capital expenditure.

A lot of people scored Buhari high on security this time last but I didn't think he deserved it.The herdsmen killings and pipeline bombings wiped away whatever points he had accrued from seriously depleting the capabilities of Boko Haram to wreck havoc.Quite interestingly, he has truly excelled in this regard over the past year but with only a lot fewer people to sing his praises.A lot more nigerians are starting to become too frustrated by other aspects to notice the very few positives.One of the biggest accomplishments of the Buhari administration so far is being able to get the Niger-Delta militants, particularly the Niger Delta Avengers to cease attacking oil installations.The question wasn't whether the government would win the war,it was whether we would have any installation left by the time it eventually did.Having to worry about a virtual half production level at a time when oil isn't too lucrative is the worst problem we could possibly have.

Nonetheless it is worthy of note that Nigerians have had to hear many excuses on why power supply has not improved, chief among them,the vandalization of oil installations.Our installations have been safe for about 5months now and that is ample time for any serious-minded government to fix whatever may have been affected and improve the deplorable state of power supply.Sadly,that has not been the case.

The Fulani herdsmen have been contained to a large extent by our security agencies as there have been a lesser rate of attacks compared to last year.The President's proclamation of a Boko Haram defeat is erroneous and misleading as a lot more needs to be done in checking the insurgents.The  University of Maiduguri has been attacked thrice in this year alone and it speaks ill of our security agencies.Three hits on the same location obviously means something isn't done right.

Contrary to what many may think,the Buhari administration hasn't waged a particularly decent war on corruption.There have been glaring loopholes.It still baffles me to no end that the EFCC would go about seizing Patience Jonathan's properties without prosecuting her for any of the offences they feel she may have committed. She has not as much as even been invited for a chat.About 9 months ago,the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau acknowledged receipt of a list of Nigerians named in the #PanamaPapers scandal where shell companies were incorporated for the purpose of evading tax.While a number of nations have secured high profile convictions, nothing has been done here.Not a few think the probe into the Paris Club Funds will tow that path as well as our authorities seem unenthusiastic in their approach.The Senate President is reported to have been implicated alongside his deputy chief of staff in a letter the EFCC wrote the Presidency but mum has been the word.

In a very ridiculous move,the Presidency asked the Attorney-General of the Federation to probe the now suspended Secretary of the Government of the Federation,David Babachir Lawal and embattled EFCC boss,Ibrahim Magu over allegations of corruption.The AGF is a trained prosecutor and not an investigator.The evidence against both was very compelling and it appeared more a bid to sweep the cases under the carpet than anything else.Though the Presidency later did the right thing as far as the SGF was concerned by setting up a committee including the National Security Adviser, the sincerity of the anti-corruption war was compromised.

The Presidency as of today, is still insisting on having Magu as EFCC Chairman despite a damaging report by the DSS indicting him.

It must also be said that over the past year,a part of President Buhari many people never knew existed came to the fore.The man's utter disregard for the exploits of our sportsmen has been shocking.After the embarrassment our Olympic athletes were put through by having to appear in their tracksuits at the opening ceremony of the 2016 olympics because the sports ministry had not made their costumes available and the record breaking outing of their paralympic counterparts, President Buhari didn't as much as host them upon return,talk more reward them.

More heart breaking was the plight of the national female football team,the Super Falcons.They had to beg and ultimately protest before they were paid their entitlements after winning the 2016 African Women Nations cup.When the Sports Minister,Solomon Dalung said no money was kept for the falcons because they weren't expected to win,you had an idea just how lost and overwhelmed the Buhari administration was.The President didn't attempt to mitigate the damage by having the Sports minister sacked, he just went about things like it didn't matter.At the very least,each of these heroes deserved national merit awards and a dinner with the President for what they were able to achieve.

Two years is enough to know what course a government has charted and the Buhari administration has so far appeared to be on a journey to nowhere.

WHOSE INTERESTS COME FIRST, THE PEOPLE OF KANO OR SANUSI AND HIS POWERFUL FRIENDS?

I had just one fear regarding Sanusi Lamido Sanusi's suitability for the Kano Emirship when I was supporting his candidature for the exalted seat and that fear has proven justified.He simply cannot transit from a suit and tie 'do good' advocate to the royal father of one of Nigeria's most historic states.Certain extraordinarily high standards are expected of such men.They are not to be seen criticizing other leaders in public before at the very least, a botched attempt at advising them in private. If at all they must speak on governance,they are expected to urge government to explore more productive policies instead of criticizing existing ones.Their status in a few words can best be captured in this hyperbolic statement-"Other mortals may bleed red but royals bleed blue". 

He has attacked the Buhari government at every opportunity, delved into sensitive religious issues and sent his daughter to represent him at a public function.He not only had her do that, he sang her praises in a video message introducing her for once slapping a boy that had disrespected her.That was just about how much anyone could stomach and when the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption commission decided to probe alleged misappropriation of funds by the Emir, many lauded the state government for acting in line with good conscience. As far as moat in the ancient city were concerned,it didn't matter what he was been accused of,what mattered was someone somewhere recognized the fact that the sanctity of the throne was being violated and that there was a need to act fast.

No one bated an eyelid when the State house of assembly took over the probe of Sanusi as the common perception was that it was in a better position to look into the non-financial aspect of the investigation which more or less happen to form the reason for his travails.In addition to embezzlement of funds,he was being accused of tarnishing the image of the Emirate by having his daughter represent him at a public function and repeatedly attacking President Buhari in a manner unbecoming of the custodian of his seat.

To my utter dismay,the house in a session on Monday,suspended the probe of the Emir based on a letter written it by the Kano state Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje requesting that the probe be halted in the best interest of peace as some prominent nigerians had interceded on Sanusi's behalf.Particularly shocking was the shamelessness involved in the disgusting acts of both the governor and the house.The Sanusi inquiry was going to stop not because he had been cleared or had publicly apologized to his people but because he had some very influential friends and no one even bothered to keep that secret.Their names were reeled out.Whose interest would peace suit most if he stayed on as Emir,the people of Kano who stood a high chance of being incited by their Emir's false claim that the Governor and members of the house spent one month in China wasting taxpayers money or by his disrespect for the Emirate by having his daughter represent him at a function instead of any ranking official?. The City's reverence for culture is legendary and as it is,the Governor is lucky to have had no revolt against the 'unEmirly' Emir.A lot of people still feel it would have been better for Sanusi to urge his fellow Muslims to delve into polygamy only when they can cope with its rigours than to outrightly suggest the government makes laws determining who should and should not marry more than one wife.Religion is quite a sensitive issue down north and an emir neglecting caution in that regard is a recipe for disaster.

I am highly disappointed in the Kano state governor for willing to discard Sanusi's probe just because some influential people begged him to.What he has made categorically clear is that the wishes of Ag.President Osinbajo,Abdulsalami Abubakar,IBB and Aliko Dangote and a few others override the best interests of his people.It doesn't matter whether anyone has embezzled funds or whether the throne is being dragged to disrepute, as long as they have powerful friends,it will all go away.Sad

MAKING A HERO OF KANU

President Buhari breathed legitimacy into every agitation for secession in the South East and South South regions of Nigeria when he promised to favour those who voted him en masse ahead of those that didn't shortly after assuming office.There couldn't be a better justification than the President pledging to make them 2nd class citizens in violation of their Constitutional right to freedom of association and from being discriminated against.

The strong will of the majority of the people of both regions to remain a part of this nation especially the South East,which seemed to have waited forever to get its first non-ministerial appointment must be commended.

When Nnamdi Kanu,the arrowhead of the Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) was arrested at a hotel in Lagos about 2 years ago,no one would have ever thought he would step out of Kuje Prisons on bail in the manner he did.He has gone from whom many thought a semi-lunatic spewing what even a lucid him wouldn't make any sense of on radio to a man that has had people like Prof.Charles Soludo,Pat Utomi,Peter Obi,the entire South-East governors and virtually every human rights activist call for his release.Ayo Fayose was in court on the day his bail application was being ruled on and he was dressed in red to show solidarity.The Buhari administration made a hero out of a villain.

At every point it kept denying him freedom after being granted bail from the magistrate court where he was first arraigned to the subsequent orders for same by other courts,it had more people rooting for him.For an addendum, his followers were massacred in Port Harcourt, Rivers State for doing nothing other than celebrating Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S President.

This administration by its flagrant disregard for the rule of law, has swapped places with its adversaries in the fight between good and evil.A lot of people are starting to forget this man started a radio station with the sole aim of disuniting this nation.He distorted facts and used highly unsavory words in propagating his message of a Biafra nation.What people now see is a man oppressed by the Buhari regime and one that deserves some sympathy for his travails.What we now see is a man who is starting to garner more support from his people as his 'oppressed' status has pumped an air of righteousness into his struggle.

A lot of us have been calling on the government for the last 2 years to put a halt to its human right violations and abide by the dictates of the laws governing us because of the possible far-reaching consequences.

I took up this matter with the National Bar Association President in person and even suggested lawyers go as far as boycotting courts until court orders are obeyed.It amounts to double standard for a government to claim the judiciary is uncooperative in its bid to sanitize the system when it doesn't obey the courts lay down.

The negative implications are starting to manifest and I sincerely hope they don't spiral out of control.

With Kanu decked in the caparison of the oppressed, everything seems to be attracting sympathy to his plight and even the worst PR specialist will tell you how crucial a role sympathy can play in moulding public opinion.And in this case where the man wants to disunite Nigeria,that is most undesirable.

The stringent conditions attached to his bail last week by Justice Binta Nyako only made matters worse as it only sprang up conspiracy theories of the government interfering to ensure he stays under lock and key.That a man granted bail for the purpose of seeking proper medical care would be required to produce a jewish high priest, 'someone as highly placed' as a Senator and someone who owns a property in Abuja as sureties to deposit N100M each is ridiculous.It is despicably sad that the conditions didn't reflect the dire need to allow him go and look after his health and if not for the compassion the authorities had managed to spring up on his behalf,the man could quite easily have been still locked up in his ill state.

Word is the South East Caucus of the Senate met in a bid to help perfect his bail conditions and that tells you the extent to which Kanu's popularity has soared.He has come a long way from someone whose cause didn't seem likely to spread any farther than the container his radio station was transmitting from to having the system justify that cause with its excrescences.The villain has become a hero.

HAVE THE JONATHANS BEEN GRANTED IMMUNITY?

The decision by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating allegations of corruption and breach of due process in the sale of the OPL 245 oil field more popularly referred to as the Malabu Scandal,to consider inviting Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to answer questions on the role he played in the saga elicited joyous reactions from a lot of Nigerians.The status quo which suggests Mr and Mrs Jonathan have no case to answer with the authorities despite been mentioned in a couple of investigations is totally unacceptable.The Buhari administration has shamelessly looked the other way on the occasions the Jonathans' name have come up.

Revelations after Dame Patience Jonathan filed an application through her lawyers to have a freezing order on her account with Skye bank overturned showed the EFCC knew or ought to know at the time it arrested persons associated with the account, that she had the ATM card for the said account and had been withdrawing money from it since 2010.These facts were ascertainable at the most preliminary stage of investigations and it was obvious the EFCC had deliberately skipped her.The woman had been overlooked and saved possible jail time and humiliation but it was nothing to be grateful about.

The audacious public claim of ownership prompted many to think her and her husband had Buhari by the balls and were not scared of squeezing hard if need be.Moreso when the EFCC as a face-saving measure, began to seize her assets without ever inviting her to answer any questions talk more prosecute her.Facts available to the anti-graft agencies were enough to necessitate the seizure of her properties but not enough to warrant prosecution. How rational does that sound?.

During investigations into the $2.1 billion arms deal,the former National Security Adviser,Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) said every payment he made was authorized by ex-President Jonathan and Doyin Okupe,a media aide of the former President said his former boss approved the sum he received.No questions were asked of GEJ, we just went about our lives like it was no big deal.There has been a nauseating disinterestedness and incuriousness on the part of our anti-graft bodies towards the Jonathans whenever a significant need to look into their activities has risen.

President Buhari promised to prosecute any one found culpable of embezzling money including those who return their loot and even though he has chewed back those words, if such a will ever truly existed and even if the Jonathans were among the exceptions, then he ought not to have condoned Patience Jonathan's arrogance in overlooking the 'favour' done to her because of the need to send a strong message to those who think they can take for granted,the benevolent gestures of his government.

He should have still held on to the funds returned (if any) and gone ahead to prosecute her.Everything adds up to the fact that the Jonathans,who ran the most corrupt government this country has ever seen seem to be enjoying a special immunity sanctioned from the highest of places.

Even after the promise by the House of Reps committee Chairman,Hon.Razak Atunwa to look into summoning President Jonathan to clarify his part in the lingering Malabu scandal where a Russian middleman,Ednan Agaev who helped negotiate the transfer of OPL 245 to SHELL and ENI by the FG, told the FBI and Italian prosecutors that Jonathan may have gotten as much as a $200 million bribe, a disturbing report emerged hinting that the committee has succumbed to pressure mounted on it by 'concerned' Nigerians to dispense with his attendance and accept a written submission instead because of the negative implications inviting him could have on the polity.Though it has stayed a rumour, it serves as a perfect illustration of the lengths to which GEJ and those covering his backside can go to thwart the only genuine effort made at looking into his dealings as leader of the most corrupt government we have ever had.

President Buhari's emergence in 2015 was more down to Jonathan's inadequacies than the belief majority of Nigerians had in a 72 year old's abilities to turn things around.If there was any consolation, it was his stance on corruption.A lot of people didn't really believe every indigent Nigerian would get N5,000 monthly or that the naira would rise to equal the dollar as was promised by the APC.Fighting corruption sounded the most realistic of their targets and it was the one a lot of Nigerians eagerly looked forward to but so far, the war hasn't been as straight as expected and it is really sad that the leader of the most vicious gang of pen and paper bandits ever known to us seems to have been shielded.

NIGERIA IS BETTER OFF WITH A WARRING SENATE AND PRESIDENCY

The eventual winner in the war between the Presidency and the Senate will be the average nigerian.One who has had to sit over the years and watch his leaders loot the treasury dry.One who has helplessly watched Political yahoo boys sell him a 'change' for the worse and finally, one who can't do anything other than what he can-Watch.

Whether by the prosecution of corrupt public officers or the rejection of unqualified candidates by the Senate, Nigeria, quite ironically, seems to be better off with both parties at loggerheads.

Soon after the first shots were fired; the 'coup' by Sen.Saraki to become Senate President and his arraignment at the Code of Conduct Tribunal for falsely declaring his assets shortly afterwards, it became obvious that only one side had a strategy: the Bukola Saraki side.

He alongside his henchmen didn't waste time in wooing as many Senators as possible to his camp by painting the President an aggrieved bully and Saraki, the victim.Their ultimate goal was met in no time as it no longer was Buhari against Saraki,it was Buhari against the Senate.

A lot of political observers back then including yours truly adviced the President to shed his non-inteference stance and proceed to establish a firm grip of the party while also ensuring the emergence of a caucus to check Saraki and his loyalists. The President has done neither and it is proving costly.

The righteous toga is sitting pretty on the Senate at the moment and that is where the interest of the eventual winner; the average nigerian lies.The Senate most certainly makes a great watch for him.It is a far cry from the days where the Senate served as a 'man Friday' to rubber stamp what is required of it by the executive.

This senate has placed heavy reliance on a highly indicting DSS report  to reject the nomination of Ibrahim Magu as EFCC Chairman.The Presidency is still refusing to let go of Magu and is even said to be considering sending his name for a third time despite revelations the report sent to it was even more detailed as to Magu's undesirability.No matter what angle one chooses to view things from,the truth won't change-the Senate doesn't want a man lacking integrity to run the EFCC while the Presidency does.

President Buhari in a letter to the Senate, stated that its call for the sack of the Secretary General of the Federation,Babachir Lawal for fraud in the grass cutting scandal was unwarranted as he had not being given a chance to defend himself.The SGF acted true to the saying 'the guilty are afraid' by opting to go to court to challenge the summons issued by the Senate instead of going there to clear his name.This was the reason he gave a day before the hearing before doing a 360 to say he had a pressing engagement that clashed with the set date in a letter to the Senate.

When Senator Dino Melaye first alleged the FG had secretly disbursed $4 billion Paris Club funds to state governments back in 2016 and called on the EFCC to monitor how the funds would be utilized, the first reaction of the Finance Minister was to flat out deny and even go as far as saying there was no such money to be shared.She later retraced her steps.

Now the second tranche of the Paris Club refunds are set to be released and the Federal government has remained persistent in turning down requests by Nigerians,Civil society and media to give extensive details of the first payments amidst allegations of misuse by the state governments. This has led many to believe that even those at the very top may have dipped into the cookie jar.

The Senate may have set out to make life difficult for the President and though both were always going to war within the confines of morality, the Senate has done so in a more righteous manner.The second shot many expected the Presidency to take against Saraki was another prosecution for the money laundering scandal that rocked the globe popularly refered to as #PanamaPapers.It happened when hypocrisy hadn't crept into President Buhari's anti-corruption war and we thought if not for anything but the neck of the Senate President, we were going to join the host of countries that were prosecuting its corrupt officials. Perhaps because there were some friends on the list,notably Aliko Dangote and Gen.Theophilus Danjuma,the Presidency swept the matter under the carpet.

There are times when the Senate has over reached itself like when it demanded that the Comptroller-General of the Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd) appear before it in his uniform without any legal backing but there is no denying that Bukola Saraki and his cohorts have so far acted more in the best interests of the nation.

That is what matters most to the onlooking nigerian-the best interests of the nation. He would rather our leaders battle themselves to make this nation a better place than live in peace and watch it wither.

BUHARI SHOULD NOT REST, HE SHOULD RESIGN

"Honor is like an island, rugged and without a beach.Once we leave it,we can never return"-Nicolas Boileau-Despereaux

President Muhammadu Buhari announced soon after returning from a medical leave lasting a month and 19 days that Acting President Yomi Osinbajo was going to continue in that capacity as he still needed to 'rest'.I totally understand the need for that as a lot of us already knew he was battling something serious for the Presidency to keep the nature of his ailment under wraps.If it were a medical condition not worth losing any sleep over,I trust Femi Adesina to have disclosed it to us in a bid to allay fears,dispel mischief and assure us we weren't sold damaged goods.But what we kept getting instead were updates on test results and who was visiting.Mr Lai Mohammed as the publicity secretary of the Action Congress in 2009 demanded that the then Minister of Information updated Nigerians daily on the state of President Yar'adua's health.It is ironic that in consonance with the hypocrisy we have now grown accustomed to, he didn't do so when Buhari was away.

Soon after the President arrived 10 hours late to an APC Presidential campaign rally in Delta state, reports surfaced complete with a medical report on how the President was been treated for acute prostrate gland cancer at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria in Kaduna state.Nobody took them serious and we all waved them off as one of the PDP's numerous antics at fighting off its most potent opposition ever.It felt a desperate move at a most desperate time but in the present circumstance,those reports deserve a lot more attention than they got then.Governor Ayo Fayose and others that warned us to choose life over death and not vote a man that could die in office now seem special recipients of messages from above.

What we have to work with suggests we have a 74 year old President who suffers from an ailment grave enough for his doctors to refuse to release him before his test results are out and also grave enough to be kept secret from everyone.

If Buhari is half the man almost everyone thought he was,he would have tendered his resignation and gone on to cater full time to his health.If not for anything but for his love for this great nation.The Buhari sold to Nigerians was one who believed we deserved the best from our leaders and one who was modest,contented and didn't deem the Presidency a do-or-die affair.

A lot of those who clapped back at Governor Fayose back then actually vouched for his integrity by claiming the Buhari they knew wouldn't spend an extra day in office if his age or health would constitute a hindrance to the effective discharge of his duties.That doesn't seem to be the case.

In the end he is no different from the other politicians out there who would cling onto power at all costs.He is no more honourable than your average nigerian politician who would rather die on the sick bed in his office than relinquish power.I saw a recent photo of the ex-Taraba state governor on a wheel chair and I wondered if Tarabans were actually waiting for the man to get well and resume in office.

Buhari's man of integrity toga only makes it difficult to rationalize his reluctance to step down.He cannot claim to worry about what would become the fate of Nigerians if he does so as the acting President has proved more than equal to the task with the yeoman's job he has done so far.Virtually every poll I saw online ended with the majority wanting Osinbajo to continue in a substantive capacity.The Ag.President's surprise visit to the Murtala Mohammed International airport Lagos to inspect facilities gave a lot of us an insight into what it felt like to have a vibrant leader on the good side of age.

And talking about age,the President himself has admitted it would limit his capabilities in honouring his bond with the people.Add that to his health state and you have a man who is guaranteed to serve us at a minimal capacity.This ought to have been the clincher if indeed he has sat down to consider towing the path of honour.

The theory that the profligacy of the PDP is responsible for all of our current problems has been disproved by none other than his Vice-President who needed just the amount of time the President was away to pay strategic visits to the Niger-Delta to meet the right people and pull the right strings in a more diplomatic approach a lot of us feared a 'hard man' like PMB wasn't capable of adopting to ensure none of our oil installations were bombed ever since.He pursued rigorous enforcement of the CBN policy on foreign exchange and thanks to that its N463 to a dollar today.A lot of us remember even without this new policy,he was able to help the naira claw back 14 points during President Buhari's first medical leave.

The President's performance quite sincerely has been below par and it would be better to leave and have Nigerians attribute it to whatever reason his honourable act propels them towards,most likely illness than to give them less than they deserve.

WITHDRAWAL OF CHARGES AGAINST THE SUPREME COURT 3: WHAT IS, WHAT SHOULD AND WHAT COULD BE

If its allowed to smell fishy for too long, the mind inevitably goes fishing in search for answers.Conspiracy theories almost always do no government any good because of the likely outcomes of its opponents keying into uncertainty to paint it bad or the people eventually stumbling on the truth.One thing I have in common with Mr Charles Adeogun Philips,the former government prosecutor in its cases against Justice Sylvester Ngwatu and 3 officials of the Supreme court is the fact we both smell something fishy about his sack from those cases and the fishing expedition in search for answers has spawned some very interesting questions.

The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami SAN via a statement issued by his Special Assistant on media and publicity, Salihu Isah claimed Adeogun-Philips was fired primarily for failing to disclose a conflicting interest in another criminal matter he was handling and I ask-why didn't the AGF refer this to the Legal Practitioners disciplinary committee having known Adeogun-Philips had contravened Section 55 of the Rules of Professional Conduct for legal practitioners?.Judging by that Section,Mr Adeogun-Philips is guilty of professional misconduct and liable to punishment as provided for in the Legal Practitioners Act.My subscription to any Conspiracy theory especially the one formulated by Mr Philips about how his objection to the withdrawal of charges against 3 corrupt officals of the Supreme court led to his sack is hinged more on the AGF's magnanimity in letting him walk than anything else.The fact that the nature of the conflict was not disclosed in the letter terminating his appointment( in line with the principle of fairness) nor to the general public further lends credence to the theory that he was relieved of his job for not agreeing with the unjust dealings of his employers.

Like Mr Philips, i find the plea bargain deal entered into with the 3 officials including the Chief Registrar of the Supreme court, Mallam Ahmed Gambo Sale devoid of any sense at all.If indeed a bigger fish was complicit in the N2.2 billion fraud they were accused of committing, the authorities would have traced him to them in the course of their investigations.Otherwise whatever they say and against whoever will only amount to another classic case of 'their word against his'.

Secondly, in virtually all allegations of corruption against Supreme court justices ever known to us, the targets were reached out to directly, through a colleague or senior lawyers.Who are the 3 Supreme court officials going to co-operate with the authorities against?.I don't think any litigant rich enough to bribe Supreme court justices would reach out through the registrar or director of finance.

The opaqueness of this situation has given rise to some theories, prominent among them the one claiming interceders on behalf of the officials (who are all northerners) met a willing President Buhari who has never been one to hide his bias for his fellow northerners.An escape route was made for the 3 officials and considering that the President who served under Gen. Abacha as PTF Chairman has publicly stated that there is no Abacha loot even when the funds are still being returned till date and the fact that Babachir Lawal, the current Secretary to the Federal Government was allowed to walk amidst glaring evidence indicting him in the IDP contract scandal,no one can put it above the President to create a soft landing for corrupt individuals he deems worthy.

Then there is also the fact that the Chief Registrar of the Supreme court,Ahmed Gambo Sale has being nominated for the Executive Secretary position in the National Judicial Council. Mr Philips himself alleged enormous pressure started being put on the prosecution after the nomination of Sale and that he was relieved of his job for refusing to succumb to them.

There is something nobody is telling us about the withdrawal of corruption charges against 3 officials of the Supreme court and the refusal of the number one law officer in the land to file a complaint against Philips for unprofessional conduct only makes that obvious.