It has taken selfless sustained efforts and great sacrifices by the officers and leadership of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for the organization to attain its current undisputed ranking as the pearl of public institutions in the country despite the recent labeling as “most corrupt and compromised government agency in Nigeria” by the Senator representing Kwara South, Oyelola Yisa Ashiru.
We consider the senator’s claim, on the hallow chamber of the Red Chamber as totally unguarded, baseless, unfortunate, distasteful, vexatious, an abuse of parliamentary immunity and borne out of vendetta as revelation by the NDLEA, shows that the lawmaker, one of his aides and some constituents had encountered some operatives of the agency with one reportedly convicted.
In the view of the senator, while contributing to the debate on a ‘Bill for an Act to Establish National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation’, a new outfit, noted that the NDLEA has failed in its mandate woefully, even as he made a strong case for the creation of another drug-related agency at a time the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is cutting down on the cost of governance, insisting that, the “failure of NDLEA has resulted in the high rate of drug trafficking going on in the country. The NDLEA is corrupt and compromised, hence, I support the creation of the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation”, he declared.
Unfortunately, however, the lawmaker’s assertions from the agency’s scorecard under the leadership of Brig. Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), both from the stand point of recent rankings by transparency bodies and global recognition accorded one of its operatives, certainly, should be a figment of imagination of someone who has an axe to grind with the institution but decided to hide under the cover of legislative immunity to launched a smear campaign against an agency that has been adjudged to be above board on issues of integrity, accountability, adherence to operational guidelines and superlative conduct by its personnel.
Just recently, and relating to staff commitment to excellence, Francis Igonoh, a Superintendent of Narcotics in the agency, defeated all challengers to clinch the 2024 prestigious International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) Outstanding Operational Success Award for distinguishing himself in the concerted effort to curb the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking such as fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine amongst others in the country.
For his extraordinary feat, which is the first ever recorded by any operative in the organization, its leadership swiftly, rewarded him with a promotion to the rank of Assistant Commander of Narcotics as the officer was already due for elevation to his next rank as Chief Superintendent of Narcotics, apparently to serve as motivation for him and others to emulate the recipient.
But justifying the honour and elucidating on the merit-based recognition, Harward Lampley, Director, West Africa Regional Training Centre, who signed the award certificate, noted that, “Your commitment to utilising the skills and techniques acquired from the ILEA training contributed to combating drug trafficking in the region. This feat is a testament of your dedication, hard work, and excellence in efforts to counter Transnational Organised Crime”, adding that the centre and the ILEA “appreciate your significant contributions in promoting regional and global security”.
Again, before the latest laurel, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), a credible watchdog, after carrying out extensive survey across the six geo-political zones in the country, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in its findings, ranked Nigeria Police Force, power sector, education, judiciary and health ministry as the top five most corrupt public institutions in Nigeria thus further debunking Ashiru’s unverified allegations against the agency.
Specifically, Kolawole Oluwadare, Deputy Director of SERAP, while elaborating on the report, pointed out that in every encounter Nigerians have with policemen, there is 63 per cent chance that bribe would be demanded, stressing that out of 100 interactions of citizens with the Police, 54 per cent paid bribe.
According to him, “A bribe is paid in 54 per cent of interactions with the Police” insisting that there is a 63 per cent probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each time he or she interacted with the Police. The likelihood of bribery in the power sector stood at 49 per cent, the chances of encountering bribery at the judiciary, education and health services stood at 27 per cent, 25 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively”, he further disclosed.
But despite the unwarranted venom unleashed on the institution and its personnel on the floor of the Senate, we observed with satisfaction, the painstaking, credible and appropriate response by the agency to the fact that the legislator was most likely not motivated by altruistic reasons or national interest but driven by vindictiveness and unbridled urge to settle personal scores hiding under the cloak of parliamentary immunity in the National Assembly.
For the purpose of clarity, parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is defined as a system in which political leadership position holders such as president, vice president, minister, governor, speaker, deputy speaker, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, senator, member of congress, councilor amongst others are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the execution of their official duties.
We, however, note that proponents of parliamentary immunity have argued that the doctrine is imperative to keep a check on unauthorised use of power of the judiciary, to maintain judicial accountability, and to promote the health of democratic institutions but this should not be mistaken by lawmakers as license to castigate, malign and defame credible and honest individuals, institutions and groups.
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