Criminal Politics: Violence, âGodfathersâ and Corruption in Nigeria
Criminal Politics: Violence, âGodfathersâ and Corruption in Nigeria
Criminal Politics: Violence, âGodfathersâ and Corruption in Nigeria
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government on his own.…The problem is Ngige be<strong>in</strong>g a politician who<br />
did not <strong>in</strong>vest one naira, not even one kobo, wanted to run away with<br />
everyth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> not even share one appo<strong>in</strong>tment.<br />
That is why he heaped this blackmail upon me…I cannot tell him to<br />
give me N3 billion because I know that he does not have it! The<br />
allocation to Anambra <strong>in</strong> one month is not up to N3 billion!<br />
I am supposed to br<strong>in</strong>g the Commissioner for F<strong>in</strong>ance, this man who<br />
funded the campaign is supposed to be Commissioner of Works, I<br />
said, look, you signed it, <strong>and</strong> not under duress. The problem is the<br />
immunity the governors are hav<strong>in</strong>g, everyth<strong>in</strong>g they are hav<strong>in</strong>g, you<br />
spend your money to br<strong>in</strong>g them <strong>in</strong>to power <strong>and</strong> they say “Go to hell.”<br />
It should be just like, you <strong>in</strong>vest <strong>in</strong> a bank <strong>and</strong> then you have power to<br />
make some decisions because of your controll<strong>in</strong>g shares. But he<br />
blackmails you <strong>and</strong> pays the press to go say all sorts of bad th<strong>in</strong>gs<br />
about you <strong>and</strong> put it <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>ternet. 245<br />
Impeachment through <strong>Corruption</strong> <strong>and</strong> Intimidation<br />
The Ngige-Uba saga came to an end <strong>in</strong> March 2006 when a Federal Court of Appeal<br />
ruled that Ngige’s 2003 election victory was fraudulent <strong>and</strong> therefore null <strong>and</strong> void.<br />
The result was Ngige’s replacement with his 2003 electoral opponent from the<br />
opposition All Progressives Gr<strong>and</strong> Alliance (APGA), Peter Obi. 246 Obi had produced<br />
massive evidence of electoral fraud <strong>and</strong> his <strong>in</strong>stallation as governor was widely<br />
hailed as a victory for democracy <strong>in</strong> Anambra. 247<br />
Just seven months after Obi assumed office, a group of legislators <strong>in</strong> the PDPdom<strong>in</strong>ated<br />
State House of Assembly voted to impeach him. The events lead<strong>in</strong>g up to<br />
245 Human Rights Watch <strong>in</strong>terview with Chris Uba, Enugu, February 12, 2007.<br />
246 See Bolade Om<strong>in</strong>jo, “Obi Sworn <strong>in</strong>, Promises New Dawn <strong>in</strong> Anambra,” The Vanguard, March 18, 2006.<br />
247 Obi was reportedly able to produce result sheets from poll<strong>in</strong>g stations across the state that displayed results completely<br />
different from those later recorded for those poll<strong>in</strong>g units.<br />
71<br />
Human Rights Watch October 2007
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