On Thursday, a taped conversation that Hammah had with someone, in which she allegedly said she would not leave politics until she had made $1m, leaked. By Friday, she was sacked by the government.
This is coming at a time that Nigerians are impatiently awaiting a decisive step by President Goodluck Jonathan over the role of the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, in the purchase of two armoured vehicles at a mind-boggling cost of about N255m.
Ghana’s decision appears to have reminded concerned Nigerians that by geographical standards, their country and Ghana are neighbours. They have also shared some historical moments, so much that they can sometimes be regarded as political allies. But despite such affinities, both countries are far from being on the same page when it comes to the treatment of corruption.
Although Hammah had not carried out the intention credited to her in the said tape, she was fired nonetheless. In the tape circulating online, she appears to have said, “If you have money, then you can control people.”
Interestingly, Hammah and Oduah are said to have played similar active roles in the elections of their respective principals. According to a BBC report, Hammah had, ironically, also openly expressed disgust at corruption months back.
“In August, she said there was a lot of pressure on her to steal public money because people thought that, as a minister, she was rich. She described such demands as obnoxious,” BBC quotes Ghanaweb news site as saying. She is said to have added that “corrupt politicians are the reflection of a corrupt society.”
Apart from the fact that Oduah has confessed to giving the approval when she appeared before the House of Reps Committee on Aviation that probed her and other parties involved, two other limousines bought by FAAN has been linked to her. Yet, she is still a minister in the Jonathan cabinet.
The highest that President Jonathan has done is to set up a probe panel in which many people have little or no confidence. Many observers may not have any problems with the integrity of the members of the committee. Rather, people are bothered about the sincerity of the President, the political will to deal with the situation and the fact that nothing concrete had come from similar probe panels in the past.
Indeed, some are tempted to describe the Nigerian government’s backyard as a cemetery of reports of other similar earlier panels.
The fear assumed more substance considering a report that Jonathan might not think highly of the House of Assembly’s recommendation that Oduah be sacked.
Reacting to the development, the Governance Manager of the Action Aid International Nigeria, Obo Effanga, notes that although every President has the latitude to choose who he appoints or retains as a minister, he must always consider the feelings of the people he governs on an issue like the ‘Oduahgate’.
Effanga says, “Another issue is that when you are talking about fighting corruption, there should be evidence that every step you have taken points towards that. The experience we have had with committees also shows that they take time to complete their work. It also takes another long time for the President or whoever is involved to act on the committees’ reports.
“On this bulletproof cars matter, we have wasted a lot of time, and we have yet to take a decision on it. One of the issues we need to address is: Were they provided for in the budget? Who approved the purchase? Does the person have the authority to do so? Whoever committed a crime in the whole matter should be made to face the punishment due to anyone in that circumstance. The President has delayed too much on the matter.”
He adds that it is wrong to give the impression that a political office is meant for a particular person, who must remain there no matter the circumstance.
Lagos-based lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, also notes that the Oduah-Hammah story shows contrasting political cultures in Nigeria and Ghana. In a telephone interview with our correspondent, he argues that what Ghana has done shows that it has a political culture that listens to the yearnings of the people.
He says, “It shows that Ghana has a culture of decency. It shows that in Ghana, anybody who has done something indefensible cannot hold political offices. It depicts that theirs is a culture that does not accommodate indecency.
“On the other hand, the development shows that we have a political culture that accommodates indecency in Nigeria; a culture in which you can grab whatever you can for yourself without being responsive to the yearnings of the people. It shows clearly a corrupt culture and culture of brigandage. It shows that those in government can go away with blue murder. They can steal anything and go away with it.”
Aturu decries the working of what he calls a cultic committee in the Odua scandal, saying that any committee who Nigerians do not know when it is holding its meeting and who it is talking to is a cultic one.
According to him, the step the aviation minister took in the purchase of the car amounts to recklessness of the highest order.
He says, “That tells you why we are where we are. It is a wake-up call to Nigerians: We must insist on the right thing. We must stop people perpetuating this culture of impunity and brigandage.”
Human right activist and President of the Campaign for Democracy, Joe Okei-Odumakin, salutes Ghana for having made ‘giant strides’ in sanitising its clime. But she is sad that Nigeria has not shown any sign of seriousness in this regard.
“One salutes Ghana for efforts it is making. No wonder, the country has continued to make steady progress. In our own clime, impunity continues to thrive. Even when the matter of the scandalous purchase of the bulletproof cars had become public knowledge and source of public outrage, some of our people embarked on a journey to Israel, including the indicted person. We had probe panels working on the issue, we have the relevant agencies, like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, yet everyone embarked on the journey to Israel.
“There must be enough political will to sanitise Nigeria. There is so much poverty, unemployment, insecurity and other problems in the country. Yet, someone is spending so much money on cars. This culture of impunity must stop. What is happening in Ghana should serve as a clarion call to Nigeria. President Jonathan must act now because justice delayed is justice denied,” Okei-Odumakin adds.
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