Aondoakaa–when the tail wags the dog
No sooner had this man became the nation’s chief law officer than he began to show his mercurial nature – always on the side of conservative controversy. His utterances as well as his actions are at best crudely controversial. Aondoakaa claimed to be unhappy with the way the EFCC was used under Ribadu. He may […]
No sooner had this man became the nation’s chief law officer than he began to show his mercurial nature – always on the side of conservative controversy. His utterances as well as his actions are at best crudely controversial. Aondoakaa claimed to be unhappy with the way the EFCC was used under Ribadu. He may be right but his subsequent actions then left observers wondering if he did not intend to have the EFCC tied to his apron strings especially when the British requested for evidence to nail one of Nigeria’s most wanted executhief.
It would appear that the AGF wanted a change in the EFCC in such a way that only those whose names are forwarded by he and his colleagues at Wadata Plaza would get prosecuted. Subsequently it would appear, they would also have to sit down and determine how long they want to put away anyone they feel ought to be put away. In short, Aondoakaa’s notion of the rule of law is actually what others have called it – the ruse of law.
Again, this maverick defended himself by saying that he would not, at the altar of being seen to be fighting corruption, endanger the freedom or reputation of any Nigerian abroad. You could argue legally that the maxim is that it is better for a thousand criminals to go unpunished than for one innocent man to be incarcerated, except of course you have not smelled the corrupt aura surrounding the personae he was trying to shield. Aondoakaa’s patriotism would come questioned when, months later, the same British authorities wanted to repatriate Nigerian criminals from their jails, a policy no serious nation has even considered. Here, Aondoakaa quickly dusted his law books and sent a rough draft law to the legislature for consideration. Talk about dubious nationalism and double standard and you have a good case study.
Aondoakaa has drawn the ire of his friends in the bar. Of recent, he opposed the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA for calling for the resignation of the president. Nobody explained that our President did not write the National Assembly because he did not walk to the aircraft that took him to Jeddah but was evacuated. That could have solved all the hoopla and elicited the needed sympathy but no, Aondoakaa stepped in to defend the boss saying since he was not privy to such a decision, it could not be said to be a decision of an association. As the AGF, Aondoakaa thinks he is the association.
Normally, in times of crisis, Dora Akunyili is rightly positioned to roil in the controversy, but Aondoakaa is the voice to beat. While the NBA was thinking of even de-frocking him, he spat into the controversy when he said that Mr President could rule from anywhere. Reminds you of the late Chuba Okadigbo when he took the Senate mace on a ride to Ogbunike. And if you thought that was ludicrous, he wasn’t done with his bag of tricks, last week, he added the worst. He allegedly wrote a letter to the Vice President asking him to act as President pro-tempore. He even scavenged sections of the constitution to support his bizarre suggestion and allegedly tried to seek the support of poor Yayale Ahmed for this wacky position.
Now if ever there was a case of the tail wagging the dog, methinks this is one classical example. Nigerians are wonderful people who take protocol seriously. In fact in 1999, the first act to be passed by the National Assembly was the protocol list. We know politicians by the numbers here and they know themselves. In any ranking on that protocol list, Aondoakaa is neither to be seen nor heard. He is a minister working at the mercy of the man who appointed him. He does not stand to advice even a lame-duck vice president except his views are sought. So the question to ask is – what is Aondoakaa’s inordinate ambition? What agenda is he pursuing? Whose interest is he serving with all these speaking from all sides of the mouth? Methinks the man is truly overstepping his bounds, but since his boss is yet to return, let us hope that he takes a candid advice – which is – dear Mike, if you have nothing to say, please don’t say it here.