 Iyabo Obasanjo But the EFCC seem to think otherwise. In a 56 count charge the commission accused Senator Obasanjo-Bello of conspiracy and retention of proceeds of crimes and stolen property. They had her house raided, raising a tearful protest from her that she is afraid of the EFCC, alleging at the same time that "they slapped my PA when they got to the house". The EFCC’s sometimes crude method has often been a source of concern even when Senator Obasanjo-Bello’s father, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was president; all the same observers raise some questions: is it proper for the Senate committee to collect money from a ministry whose budget they approve and supervise? There is also the question whether the Senate don’t have the fund to sponsor their own programmes without pilfering into the accounts of ministries. Others question the fairness of arraigning other guilty parties in the scandal before the court without their collaborators in the legislature. Since then, Obasanjo-Bello’s whereabouts has yet to be established. Indications that the Senators might come to the defence of one of their own was vouchsafed when the senate directed its Chief Whip, Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello to establish her whereabouts owing to her absence from Senate sessions. The senators said there is need to ascertain the danger posed to her safety by the EFCC. "We need to find out where she is and find means to protect her life", Senator Kanti Bello was reported to have said. The Senate in its response to the debacle seem inclined to present the EFCC as a kind of Gestapo force that operates completely outside the ambits of the law and Senator Obasanjo-Bello as a victim. Others advised caution. Senator Uche Chukwumerije said: "We must be tactful about this issue. We must not be seen by the public as people who are above the law." He added: "After all nobody can claim ignorance of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the Senator." The Senate have had an unenviable history as far as budget scandals are concerned. During the Adophus Wabara-led Senate a N55 million bribe-for-budget -scandal rocked the Senate leading to the resignation of Wabara as Senate President. In the 2008 Appropriation Bill further allegations of bribe-for-budget were still made. In a way there is a certain underlining practice that the Senators are immune from prosecution even though constitutionally they don’t enjoy such immunity. In Senator Obasanjo-Bello’s case the controversy is heightened by the fact that she is the daughter of former president Obasanjo. Obasanjo’s eight years tenure has of recent come under intense scrutiny and has suffered severe criticism, almost bordering on paranoia. Repeated calls have been made on the Yar’Adua administration to probe him. And as fresh facts continue to emerge about the huge funds expended in revamping the country’s moribund power sector with no commensurate improvement to show for what has been described as wasted resources, he has gradually become a reservoir for Nigerians to heap all their anger and frustrations. The Obasanjo ordeal is a cyclical kind of political witch-hunt which he did much to encourage and entrench. Immediately he came to power in 1999 after the death of former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, in controversial circumstances, he made political capital of a strong anti-Abacha sentiment to have his first son, Mohammed, arrested and began an intensive probe of his five years tenure, exposing mind numbing amounts of money stashed in Swiss accounts by the ex-Head of State and his cronies. Even though he has survived calls to probe him since he left office, former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s eldest son, Mohammed, was once a guest of the EFCC during Obasanjo’s tenure to explain where he allegedly obtained the money to purchase shares in globacom, an interest he denied having in the company. It is a curious kind of karma that Obasanjo’s eldest child should also be on the anti-corruption searchlight at a time when calls have become strident to probe her father for his deeds while in office. All this do not necessarily support the assertion of victimhood claimed by Senator Obasanjo-Bello. Before her current debacle with the EFCC she has been mentioned in a series of fraudulent allegations that purport that she had peddled her father’s influence to win dubious contract awards, even though she was a public officer at the time. The EFCC has been inundated by accusations from the opposition and the civil society that they are shielding her because of the influence of her father. The EFCC on its part had often defended the charges of bias against them by saying it will need evidence before the commission can move against her. It is an irony though that just as the EFCC was making determined efforts to arraign her before the court they now face the charge of witch-hunting and victimisation levelled against them. The commission had responded to similar charges in the past as a blackmail to stop it from carrying out its duty. Though, now that the Senate seem inclined to throw the weight of their full support for one of their own it only remains to be seen how the whole matter will proceed. But despite all these, the weight of the EFCC’s evidence against Senator Obasanjo-Bello remains hazy in some respects, prompting the question whether the commission has solid evidence to ensure her indictment in court or whether the whole move is aimed at scoring a point by the commission that even Obasanjo’s daughter is not above the law. First, the ten million naira bribe for which Senator Obasanjo-Bello is been charged for receiving was disbursed by the secretary of the committee she chairs in the senate not by her. The same money was used by the other eleven members of the committee who so far have not been charged by the EFCC for any wrongdoing. There is also the question of fairness to address in a system, which even though corrupt, has for long allowed Senators to seek sponsorship for their activities from the executive branch under their supervision. It is a crime virtually every single Senator is guilty of indulging. It could be Senator Obasanjo-Bello’s misfortune that hers happened at a time when a new administration is on board preaching respect for the rule of law. Analysts say in that case she has nothing to fear about maltreatment. Except of course if the whole saga is part of a wider chess to kick-start a full investigation of Obasanjo’s eight years deed while in office. Not only his daughter alone, his in-law too, Kenny Martins is been questioned by the EFCC over about $42 million dollars that is alleged to be missing from the Police Equipment Fund, where he was chairman. His former ministers too have been faced with several allegations, ranging from embezzlement to dubious land deals and sale of Federal Government effects in the administrations privatisation programme. Day by day allegations of misdeeds are levelled against key actors of the Obasanjo administration. It is gradually becoming a groundswell of scandal, gaining momentum. The Nigerian Labour Congress has been reported to be calling for the probe of the former President or they will take to the street in protest. Are the ordeals faced by his daughter and his loyal ministers part of the process of starting his probe or just simply to demystify and disgrace him? Time will tell.
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