THE CABALS AND CORRUPTION OF ECOWAS COURT
By Charles Ebube – Abuja Bureau.
The Court globally is expected to be a temple of justice to salvage the community and offer hope and succor to the common man who considers them as the last hope at the communal, national and international level. We are focusing in this write up on the Community Court of Justice of ECOWAS operations, the staff human rights violations, service or disservice to the community and the role of the cabals who have allegedly captured the court to serve their personal interest.
This is a painstaking effort of investigative journalism spanning over months of diligent gathering of information and evidence , all in the bid of rescuing the court from final fall into the abyss, if the authorities of ECOWAS community have respect for the tax payers whose money are been used to finance frivolities of personal interest.
The solutions preferred will by no means help to arrest the calamitous situation if the authorities are ready to do the needful.
Employment of Judges into the Community Court of Justice of ECOWAS is regulated and statutorily based on a zoning arrangement with four years absolute term certain for Judges who are expected to be persons with high moral integrity, recommended by their country to take up the position for the term certain and absolute ; with the age recommendation and other criteria for appointment which are all laid down in the extant regulation, amongst which it is clearly stated that there is no reappointment after the four years tenure expires.
ECOWAS Court of Justice prides herself to be a West Africa regional human rights court amongst her many other jurisdictions dealing with the interpretation of the community law and policies.
A searchlight and peripheral look suggests that the court presents an image of defender of human rights of people coming with complaints from the region but the contrary is suggested about the image of the court when it comes to her relationship with her internal public which are the staff or employees.
Allegations of high handedness, discrimination, nepotism, corruption, circumvention and utmost disrespect to the regulations of ECOWAS, continuous violations of the human rights of her staff is dominant under the current management which took over the running of the affairs of the court in the past five years.
It will interest the public to know that a judicial coup allegedly took place because the last chairman of the authority of Head of States of ECOWAS was allegedly misled by three of the judges who have completed their tenure over a year ago, over due to be recalled and replaced by new judges from their country but are still sitting tight on the position, contrary to the rule of engagement and the extant law of four years absolute tenure. For purpose of clarification, Cape Verde and Sierra Leone have sent in new judges as replacement for those that completed their tenure, only the ones from Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria are sitting tight and refusing to go despite completing their absolute tenure of four years over a year ago.
A call for ECOWAS authorities and the home country to look into it and do the needful by replacing them in accordance with the extant law that prohibits reappointment.
To address the issues by going straight to the point, there are numerous allegations and incidences of deliberate violations of employment rights of staff, circumvention of procurement procedural guidelines on projects, contract awards meant to enrich a few family members at the detriment of the ECOWAS Community tax payers by the cabals; who have captured the Court and spending the community tax payers money recklessly on unnecessary phantom projects and funding of frivolities.
It is difficult to explain or begin to imagine the confirmed oppression, continuous violations of human rights of employees and disregard to the rule of law going on in the ECOWAS Court of justice today which can best be described as a whitewash sulpechre arising from the decision of some few hypocritical judges at the helm of the management affairs of the Court.
For want of space, we shall do a random selection of some deeply troubling alleged activities which needs the attention of the entire ECOWAS community and the authorities for possible review.
Imagine a land lord who has a very beautiful mansion, wakes up one day to discover that the people managing the property which is an office space has taken a decision that, it is better to look for a smaller space for no good reason other than to find a way of making some financial benefits for themselves, their families and cronies.
That is similar and to be liken to the story of the ECOWAS Court of justice who left the building in Wuse 2 purchased and furnished for her under the headquarters agreement by Nigeria with ECOWAS, under the administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo and opted for an abandoned building in Gudu area of Abuja, with no comparison in terms of facilities, office accommodation now in open space for staff and security concerns, to a building abandoned for years with cracks on the wall, arising from alterations and after thought of installing elevators and other weights not originally designed for the building to carry. Till date no one can say what consideration was received for the Wuse 2 Court building to have motivated the few judges involved in the deal to have agreed to move to an inconvenient space and location, the consideration is still shrouded in mystery and unaccounted for by the Court management.
It is no longer news that the ECOWAS Court management circumvented the procurement procedure of ECOWAS commission and put everything under emergency procurement to rent a building which presently house her court office and renovated it, (did not purchase the building) for a whooping sum of Three Million United States of America Dollars in Abuja, all the contracts award sum over bloated and awarded to the managements relations, friends and cronies to benefit the cabals.
Let us look at one of the items allegedly awarded for procurement and the figure attached to give you a better perspective of the high level of corruption involved; at the time of the award of the contract, a 1000 kva CAT generator in an on line shop and in open shops was going for 53 million Naira, the contract was awarded in Dollars in Abuja for the sum put at equivalent of over 256 million Naira.
What happened to the balance and who shared the difference of the funds generated from community tax payer’s levy or where is the balance of over 200 million Naira?
The ECOWAS authorities should seek answers from the ECOWAS Court Management in the interest of accountability to the community citizens of ECOWAS whose tax payers funds are been expended on the project.
It will also interest you to know that some Staff who has the boldness to question most of the awarded circumvented contract procedures and sums involved have since been pushed out of the system, others have their promotion stagnated and many experiencing continuous violations of human rights by some of the court Judges who claim to be upholding human rights protection.
We were further told about a Nigerian who was suddenly stopped from accessing his office with a purported immediate termination notice till date and has his contract terminal entitlement severance like what you will call pension withheld from payment for over one year, contrary to the ECOWAS Staff regulation which says such benefits must be paid not less than a month after disengagement, all because of speaking the truth to the authority. The Nigerian who we learnt has since returned back to the United kingdom where they contracted him from we understand is been persecuted by a few Judges of the ECOWAS Court who are expected to understand human rights violations better, as this same Judges still seat hypocritically to decide cases of human rights violation till date in the ECOWAS Court of Justice or Court of injustice as some Staff alludes.
In fact we understand that some other Nationals who were refused their entitlements by the Court management have given up on their hard earned pensions and other entitlements.
The same Court management we unraveled have fashioned out other ways of shortchanging the ECOWAS community tax payers by rewarding themselves with both reasonable and unreasonable mission to claim out of station allowances call per diem; this mission syndrome we gathered has become a reward system for those who are loyal or followers of the cabals and punishment for those perceived not to be loyal to the cabals as they are excluded from missions, it has become so corrupted that some people at the top management level can allegedly in their omnipresence; attend two or more missions at the same time and claim allowances for all.
In other words, someone will be allocated two different locations at the same time, one in America and Nigeria at the same time all for the greed of claiming per diem allowances for both mission simultaneously.
This are ECOWAS community tax payer’s money in question which Nigeria pays over 60% for every penny that is spent on ECOWAS community project.
Corruption has been defined by Wikipedia as a form of dishonesty orchestrated by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one’s personal gain.
Also not palatable and shameful to comprehend is how a Director of Administration who is not ordinarily entitled to the particular privileges for over four years, allegedly allocated a permanent official car to himself, an official driver and fueling the car from the ECOWAS community tax payers fund until recently when the atrocity was discovered by a more experienced new administrator of the Court. We do hope the liable Director will be asked to refund all the fuel and other expenses spent on himself illegally during that over four years period.
Employment procedure is another kettle of fish where cases of conflict of interest is very prominent among the management group, hundreds of petition are still with the ECOWAS Commission awaiting attention till date across all institutions of ECOWAS in which Nigerians and other Nationals are sidelined in favour of the cabal candidates, the annoying thing is that while some of this petitions awaits investigation, the cabal in conjunction with their collaborators in ECOWAS Auditor General office, circumvents the system and issue employment letters to their cronies. We understand that even in situations where reports have been made to the Nigerian Representative to ECOWAS on the employment, victimization and discriminatory issues, he has refused to stand up for the interest of Nigerians across the concern ECOWAS institutions.
Perhaps Nigeria authorities particularly the President who is the current Chairman of ECOWAS or the Minister of Foreign Affairs should ask the Nigerian Representative to ECOWAS for an explanation, as to why he is always allegedly working against the interest of Nigerians that he is expected to be serving in ECOWAS institutions?
In a practical case study situation with relation to employment issues, we were reliably told how the Head of ECOWAS Court institution in conflict of interest anointed and install his fellow Ghanaian Executive Assistant as the Head of Legal Department of the Court despite performing woefully in an interview for the position contrary to ECOWAS Staff regulations.
Further investigation reveals that while the Nigerian who competed and performed better in the interview petition’s is still before the ECOWAS commission till date for review of the decision, the Head of institution again circumvented the procedure and got an appointment letter for his country man.
As if that was not enough, we confirmed that the Nigerian who complained has been dismissed with no cogent reasons and without the statutorily required notice of termination of employment.
This we reliably gathered have placed the country Nigeria in a disadvantageous situation; as Nigeria today has no single person in senior management position of the Court, in the same place where they use to have two before now.
The question again remains what is the Nigerian Representative to ECOWAS doing if he cannot stand up for the interest of Nigerians in ECOWAS institutions?
There is also a recorded case of an ECOWAS Court general staff who was allegedly promoted to professional staff level three to head a whole department just because he is from the same country with the Court’s head of institution.
The former head of that department we gathered was allegedly frustrated out, and after observing that the promoted crony does not have the technical know how to handle the department, the deposed expert former head of that department was rehired as a consultant to help run the department in question, thereby paying salaries to someone who does not qualify for a job he has been assigned illegally to do from community tax payers fund.
We can continue but time will not permit, but we must not fail to mention how the head of the institution circumvented the bidding procedure, sold the official car, property of the court to himself for less than a quarter of the market value, allegedly approved by the ECOWAS Auditor General office without following due bidding procedure as laid down in ECOWAS regulations. We further learnt that the head of the institution subsequently ordered another new official car, contracted one of his country man to transport the car from Lagos to Abuja for over bloated contract sum of Five Million Naira, also without following the due purchasing procedure as stipulated in the ECOWAS regulations.
We await to see how the ECOWAS authorities intend to handle all the allegations which are in the public domain and been protected in the accounting records of the Court.
A Community Court of Justice of ECOWAS that is expected to show exemplary leadership example and integrity has been captured or hijacked by a few people and now heading to financial comatose because everyone who belongs to the cabal comes up with phantom project to enrich themselves.
This weighty allegations are just few out of many things going on at the ECOWAS Court of Justice and are verifiable if the ECOWAS authorities will rise up to the challenge to investigate and bring the perpetrators to book by engaging the services of neutral reputable external auditors and investigators for the purpose of doing a forensic auditing of the ECOWAS Court books.
We are using this medium as a public service interest exposé expected from the fourth estate of the realm, to call on the Chairman, President, Council of Ministers and all other ECOWAS authorities to launch a forensic audit investigation through a neutral auditing firm into the financial activities of the ECOWAS Court of Justice to cover the past five years, especially how Three Million United States Dollars can be used to renovate a rented building in Abuja rather than paying Naira and why the ECOWAS bidding procedure was circumvented and contracts awarded to favour some personal interest.
As the Council of ministers meeting and that of the authorities of Head of State of ECOWAS is fast approaching, the authorities should as a matter of responsibility and accountability invite the head of Institution and the Chief Registrar of ECOWAS Court of Justice to defend herself against all the allegations, petitions still awaiting response before the ECOWAS Commission, Council of Ministers, President of ECOWAS Commission, Commissioner for Internal Services of ECOWAS, to present all her financial books before the Council and authorities to debunk all the weighty allegations.
We trust that the ECOWAS authorities who owe a duty of accountability and trust to the ECOWAS Community citizens will be willing to explain how their community tax levy is been expended, plug any loophole, waive the immunity of anyone found wanting, have them investigated and prosecuted appropriately for their roles in appropriating and mismanaging ECOWAS Community citizens tax payers funds.
