Auditor - General of the Federation

 Bless the memory of Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi. When Ray Ekpu out of

annoyance, pilloried our courts for finding Late Shehu Shagari innocent of allegations of corruption under his watch, it was Gani Fawehinmi that made Nigerians realize that the penalty for contempt of court is One Guinea or two Naira ten kobo.

Today in the same vein I am looking at the report of the Auditor  - General of the Federation on Fraud at the  National Assembly. This is against the backdrop of reports of the public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly indicting several MDAs of corruption.

In a Tit for Tat, the National Assembly Commission and both chambers have been similarly indicted.

The sorry and sordid part of all these is that the whole thing smacks of a joke.

Who does not know how serious Audit queries are supposed to be? But not in Nigerian government circles.

Yet when you hear Auditor General of the Federation, you think of power but please make that, money.

Perhaps the title is Open Sesame for money and not a prelude to restitution or jail for the indicted or even a day in court.

It was a disconnect between ambience and reality that landed Ray Ekpu in court only for Late Gani Fawehinmi SAN, to undress the masquerade in court. 

I won't be surprised if today the utility of the reports will include being used as a leash in the hands of the security agencies. 

Any errant or seemingly errant critic of the government with an adverse report immediately gets whipped into line with a wave of the report.

Beyond that, keep savouring the power behind the title and the paraphernalia of office.

Meanwhile for such an indolent and grossly underwhelming office, a lot is made of who or who does not occupy the office.

The use to which it is put justifies the underhand method of making the appointments. So much for our attempts at building strong institutions.