Lawyer Frank Tietie condemns NRS chairman’s involvement in raising campaign revenue for APC, calling it a serious breach of discretion.
A lawyer and Arise News analyst, Frank Tietie, has criticised the involvement of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) chairman, Zach Adelabu Adedeji, in the APC campaign council, describing the move as “the height of indiscretion” and questioning the blurring of responsibilities between governance and party politics.
Speaking with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Tietie said the decision reflects a troubling mix of desperation to win, a desire to please the president and a failure to distinguish between party politics and governance.
“It was the height of indiscretion, indeed. Why would anybody lose a sense of discretion and propriety to that extent of making the taxman—the man who brings in revenue for Nigeria—to now be in charge of bringing revenue for the APC? What have these guys reduced government to? As if it’s a matter of personal affair of the president.
“It’s a mixture of many things: desperation to win, desperation to please the president, and a sense of irresponsibility to the Nigerian people. They are failing to make a distinction between party politics and governance. Yes, it’s an election year, but the president should not lose sight that he is the president of the entire Nigeria, not just of political parties.
“When you reduce the campaign to a matter where it has to be those who have now had a share or collected money coming to contribute to the campaign, that is very wrong,” he maintained.
Attributing the APC’s withdrawal of its election campaign council list and the frequent changes surrounding government decisions to what he described as “discordance”, Tietie said governance had become opportunistic and driven by competing interests.
“I think it’s just discordance, the craze, and the rat race among the operators of the administration in pursuit of opportunities. Governance has become opportunistic, not necessarily for contributing anything to the improvement of governance, but as a way of getting a fair share of the national cake. When there is this pursuit and clash of influences as to who gets what and to what extent, that is definitely what you get, especially when there is so much discordance.
“That discordance has affected governance in general, because so many things are done in the name of the president. Interestingly, only the president ultimately bears the responsibility for this discordance, dissonance, and embarrassment,” he said.
Commenting more on the inclusion of the NRS chairman on the APC campaign council, Tietie said the move creates a wrong impression and is antithetical to the principles of democracy, governance and separation of powers.
“First, the impression is very wrong and antithetical to the principles of democracy, governance, and separation of powers. It also underscores corruption. It simply implies that the taxman has collected money, gotten his share, and is now going to give it to the campaign of the president. Very wrong,” he reiterated.
He argued that the taxman should maintain independence and discretion by staying out of partisan politics, adding that involving an official responsible for generating trillions of naira in the president’s campaign raises serious questions about corruption and propriety.
“In fact, the taxman ought to exercise some measure of independence, be discreet, and not be allowed to be involved in politics. But to think now that the man who brings in trillions is being asked to be a member of the campaign council, with the hope of being on the finance subcommittee—for goodness’ sake, it shows that the party has stolen all the money. That man is wrong.”
On Dino Melaye’s decision to challenge the appointment in court, Tietie said the former lawmaker should not pursue the matter if public criticism could prompt the government to reverse the decision.
“Dino Melaye shouldn’t waste his time going to court. Sometimes, that’s the beauty of criticism: when you point out something that is wrong, people should make a U-turn,” he said.
Tietie said the recurring controversies surrounding decisions made in the president’s name raise questions about the effectiveness of his advisers and the role they play in protecting him from politically damaging decisions.
He questioned whether advisers embroiled in politics of self-interest were failing to properly advise the president, while stressing that criticism of the president should also acknowledge the lapses within his administration.
“These things keep coming, and it seems as if I’m an apologist for the president when I keep saying he didn’t know. But when you look at it, a lot of things happen in his name. Look at fake agencies—all appointments, are they not supposed to be made by the president? Look at all of those things happening in his name.
“As an analyst, I try to go behind the curtain and see what could have actually been the issue. Is it a result of advisers who are not doing their job, who are embroiled in politics of self-interest to the extent that they forget to protect the president? Who is the General Counsel to the President?
“So we have to be careful. While we criticize him, we must also point out these lapses. You cannot take the taxman to raise funds for your campaign,” he insisted.
Credit: Arise News, Favour Odima.
