By J.D.EPHRAIM.
I like the statement in a Facebook account of what has happened to MS Hadiza Bala Usman on the management of her REMITTANCES of the operating surpluses to the Consolidated Federal Revenue Account. That post Saud that Hadiza will be judged by the RECORDS. Yes, ” BY THE RECORDS” So, let us not be too emotional, either positively, or negatively, about what has happened to Hadiza and her management of the Ports Authority.
I am a Lawyer and I am not guided , or controlled by emotions, but by the law and the facts as revealed.
Therefore, my compatriots, I refer you to the query directed to her by the Chief of Staff to the Presidency as a result of the memo to the President by her supervising Minister, Rotimi Amaechi of the Ministry of Transportation. Look at the query sent to her by the President. Look at her reply to the query. Does it satisfactorily answer the query? Remember, she is to respond to the CONTENTS of the query and not the content of any public outcry- positive, or negative. At the end of the day, it would be the Presidency that will decide- based on the content of her reply, and its judgement of the facts and other political considerations attached to the issue, outside what you and I say, or would say. We understand that she has replied to the query. The query was centred on remittances to the Consolidated Federation Revenue Account. No issue of management and, or, mismanagement, of the Ports Authority, was involved in either the query or the reply from her. Issues of mismanagement and, or, corruption are mentioned by outside interests, outside the issue raised in the query.
Some petitions from some interests were directed to the EFCC, unsolicited. It is very unlikely that EFCC would act on such matters, knowing fully well that the Presidency is handling similar issues raised by the Minister of transportation on it. The EFCC will wait for directives from the Presidency if ever there will be any.
This is a high-profile political (not even administrative), issue. The result will be treated politically as well and may even involve some collateral political damages or advantages, depending on which side they stand. We are waiting to see how far it goes. But my sympathies are with Hadiza Bala Usman -the scion of the radical academic of the History department of ABU Zaria, and former Secretary to the Kaduna State Government, under the progressive government of Balarabe Musa ( may Allah forgive their shortcomings and grant their souls aljanatu firdausi ). She has fallen into a trap and has become a victim to political brick-batting, and footballing. But that is life- with all its ups and downs. She has all along enjoyed the good sides of activism and politics. She must taste the other side because even if she comes out of it clean, her reputation would have adversely been touched. There will be lessons for her to learn from.
In summary, Therefore, I do not want people to lose sight of the fact there is a single issue in her query and is to account for remittances of her operating surpluses to the Federal Revenue Account. If there were other Issues, they would have been mentioned in the query. But please do not begin to read my position as having taken sides. It is only explanatory.
Chief J.D.EPHRAIM.