By Olusegun Olanrewaju
It was like the proverbial story of a coin with two sides.

Yesterday, Nigerians took turns to lampoon the anti-corruption war in the country, with heavy pillorying of the alleged N80 billion fraud by the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris.

On Monday, the chief purse of the nation was picked up by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly embezzling N80bn from the Federal Government’s coffers.

The anti-graft body said it picked up the chief financial officer of the nation “after failing to honour invitations” to respond to the allegations made against him.

The EFCC also said Idris “raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members, and close associates.”

The Commission had also, late on Monday, stated that proceeds of Idris’ alleged loot had been invested in real estate in Abuja, as well as Kano, his home state.

Idris is yet to address the accusations.

Infuriated Nigerians are taking their turns baying for recalcitrance, wondering why in a nation where universities have been on strike for months due to lecturers’ industrial action, a chief accounting officer allegedly stole this much.

They also wondered why the lectures should ceasefire in the ivory towers where the government had stuck to its gun that it could not meet demands, in the face of mindless looting being associated with sundry government officials.

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*Accusations

Curiously, ASUU had in 2020, accused Idris of acquiring properties worth billions of naira in Bauchi, but the accusation was ignored by the Federal Government.

The allegation was contained in a statement by ASUU’s Bauchi zone coordinator, Prof. Lawan Abubakar.

The union said it was seeking the AGF’s explanation on how he bought Sokoto Hotel in Kano for the sum of N500m, and ordered its immediate demolition, only to build a multi-billion naira shopping mall on the site.

ASUU had also asked the AGF to account for the money he used in acquiring the multi-billion naira Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange.

“We would want gentlemen of the press to assist us in the conduct of two investigations, Abubakar said on behalf of his colleagues, adding, “The first is to uncover who bought the version of the Sokoto Hotel in Kano with a whopping sum of N500m, cash down, and demolished it the next day for on-going development of a multi-billion naira shopping mall.

“How and where did he or she get money for such an investment? The second assignment is to assist uncover who is hiding to invest multi-billion naira in the Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange. How and where did he or she get money for such an investment?”

*Criticisms

Amid the fresh EFCC revelation, many have taken to social media to blast Idris.
One of the harshest criticisms came from former President Goodluck Jonathan’s aide, Reno Omokri, who has asked the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members not to suspend their ongoing strike, if demands are not met.

Omokri’s call by way of a tweet yesterday after the EFCC announced Idris’ arrest for alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering which ran into billions of naira.
The ex-presidential aide urged the lecturers to insist that the Federal Government pay them part of their required fees, with the N80 billion allegedly stolen by the arrested head of Nigeria’s treasury.

Omokri wrote, ”Dear ASUU, If the Accountant General of the Federation can steal ₦80 billion, then you have no reason to end your strike.

“Ask (President Muhammadu) Buhari to use the stolen ₦80 billion to pay you and then keep the change. After all, the money you are asking for is not even up to ₦80 billion!”

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He added, “Just look at how morally bankrupt Nigeria is. The same Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, married a 16-year-old girl, and he was not sacked or arrested by Buhari.”

Also, social media has been buzzing with scathing comments over the gargantuan allegation of graft and money laundering.

One Onome Edafe noted @Onomsdaf: “In January, Ahmed Idris, the accountant general of the federation blasted ASUU for demanding N18 billion. Today, he has been arrested by the EFCC for stealing N80bn!

“Hardworking people can’t be paid because a few people are busy filling their pockets in secret!”
Another user, M Hasheem, who wrote at @HashimM77643203, pointed out that while the AGF ‘stole’ N80bn, the academic union was only offered N25bn last year, and asked to share the same with other unions.

“ASUU were offered N25bn last year while they were on strike, and the Federal Government ordered them to share that money with NASU and SSANU. Now a sitting accountant-general has pocketed the sum of 80 BILLION NAIRA, only he and you dare blame ASUU for fighting over their rights and students’ rights.”

Similarly, a columnist, Gimba Kakanda, @gimbakakanda, noted “N80 billion stolen by one skinny citizen. This man’s family and allies are probably out there cussing the country for the dysfunctions their principal helps make worse. One day, we are going to contemplate capital punishment for this unforgivable scale of corruption.”

Yet another user, Moh_Abba @official_Abba, posted, “If you are to spend N1m daily….It will take one 80,000 days to spend N80bn…which makes it 219 years to spend such an amount of money. Thank you accountant-general!”

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*The ASUU angle

The university union began a four-week rollover strike on February 15, following the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.

The National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the decision was taken after the union’s National Executive Committee meeting.

Osodeke said since the last meeting the union had with the Federal Government in December 2021, it had not received any formal invitation from the government.
ASUU later said it extended the action by another two months, “to afford the government more time to address all of our demands”.

The union also accused the government of displaying an indifferent attitude toward its demands.

In a statement to announce the extension of the rollover strike, Osodeke noted that the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union “was disappointed that government did not treat the matters involved with utmost urgency they deserved during the four weeks as expected of a reasonable, responsive, and well-meaning administration”.

He said the NEC concluded that the government had failed to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2020 Memorandum of Action within the four-week roll-over strike period, and resolved that the strike be rolled over for another eight weeks.

The university don said the strike would continue as a result of the government’s failure to ‘satisfactorily’ implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) it signed with the union in December 2020 on funding for revitalisation of public universities (both Federal and state), renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU Agreement, and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution.

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Other demands of the union as listed by ASUU include payment of Earned Academic Allowances, assisting state universities; payment of arrears and withheld salaries, and settlement of non-remitted third-party deductions.
As it is, the ASUU strike has kept students at home for nearly four months, with many suggesting that the sum allegedly stolen by the AGF would have been enough to meet the demands of the union.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government had reached an agreement with the union to commit N200 billion annually for five years for the revitalisation of the country’s education sector, an agreement which it had been accused of continuously breaching.

The union, which has since insisted on getting a concrete commitment from the government in this regard, has continued to down tools, as students of public institutions are destined to lose another academic year.

The AGF, Idris, had maintained that the country did not have the funds to meet the demands of the union.

As things stand, questions are being asked: “Will the recent revelation by the EFCC by a top government official prevent public sector looting, with schools rotting away>