By: Okoi Obono-Obla One of the most significant cases the Special Presidential Investigation For Recovery of Public Property i...
By: Okoi Obono-Obla
One of the most significant cases the Special Presidential Investigation For Recovery of Public Property investigated concerned a petition written by Major General Adamu Yusuf (rtd), a whistleblower. It was during the period when Nigerians were being encouraged to “blow the whistle.” He took that call seriously. He went directly to President Muhammadu Buhari and his Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, to report a matter of grave importance.
Ordinarily, after reporting and investigations, whatever is recovered entitles the whistleblower to a commission. But in his case, he was denied. His calls were ignored. Abba Kyari refused to pick up, and he was cut off from access to the President. Frustrated, he turned to the EFCC, but they lacked the courage to act. He went to the ICPC, but they too failed him. Finally, he came to me.
My Director of Operations, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, investigated thoroughly. He interviewed over seven individuals, including Chuma Nzeribe from Anambra, and they all confirmed knowledge of where the money was hidden. With the DSS, under Lawal Daura at the time, we went to the location and recovered the funds. Yet the money was never declared. Yusuf grew angry and petitioned. Our preliminary investigation pointed directly to Abba Kyari.
Enemies Within
I knew the sensitivity of the matter. This was the President’s Chief of Staff. I could not simply arrest him or summon him. The President had to be informed. I prepared a memo. Around that time, I was under immense pressure and even considered resigning. My friend, Osita Okechukwu, advised against it, saying it would embarrass the President. He arranged for me to meet Buhari directly.
When I briefed the President, he listened carefully and asked who was disturbing me. Then he said, “Obla, go and do your work.” As I left, his ADC, Colonel Abubakar, warned me: “Anything you send to the President will be waylaid. Pass it through my office.” I did. But when I handed him the memo, he kept it for a month. Later, he called me to the Villa and said, “Obla, this thing is too hot. Leave it. Do other cases.”
That was the reality of the dangerous cases I handled. The Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, did not help matters. Ironically, we had been friends. Before government, I ran his law office in Abuja. But once in office, he turned against me. He was told I wanted his position, and from then on, he fought me relentlessly. Trumped-up charges were brought against me, but they found nothing. I had entered government with only what I had earned as a lawyer, and I left with nothing more.
The Price of Courage
I believe they wanted me out because I was courageous. I went into areas other anti-corruption agencies dared not touch, including the Abba Kyari case. Eventually, I was suspended—not dismissed, just suspended. My police protection was withdrawn. I knew then my life was in danger.
I had stepped on too many toes. One case involved the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and a senator, once a military officer and governor, who had laundered vast sums abroad in the Caribbean. After the Panama Papers scandal broke, I wrote to the DG of NIA. He investigated and gave me a report, which I passed to Malami for the President. Nothing was done.
These were the kinds of dangerous cases I pursued. When they removed me, I told myself: I must go underground. Otherwise, they might kill me.
Reflection
Looking back, I see those years as a test of courage and conviction. I was determined to confront corruption even when it meant standing alone. The whistleblowers who trusted me, the investigations that shook the corridors of power, and the enemies I made along the way—all of these shaped my journey.
Suspension was not the end of my service; it was the beginning of my survival. In the silence that followed, I carried with me the knowledge that I had dared to go where others feared, and that courage, though costly, was never wasted.
@ Okoi Obono-Obla
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