Bazaar of Corruption in Democracy, by Uzor Maxim Uzoatu – THISAGE

It is fake news that Nigeria is practicing democracy. What happens in the so-called Giant of Africa is lootocracy.

The market of looting going on in all spheres of government in Nigeria is unprecedented and quite scary.

The country is barely surviving on life support because it has been stripped of all its blood, tissue and fiber.

The prebendal executive arm of the government continues to borrow continuously, and the funds are used for bribery and corruption and to finance white elephant projects that are neither here nor there.

The parliament celebrates being under the control of the executive hierarchy and eats up all the money voluntarily made available by the supreme leader.

It is typical of the judiciary to flaunt itself as a voluntary instrument in the game of corruption that puts money before justice.

It is in this dire context that it came as a shock to most Nigerians that the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos declared the National Assembly’s huge $110 billion vehicles and allowances program illegal.

The court boldly ruled that spending $40 billion on 465 vehicles for lawmakers and $70 billion on support allowances for newly elected members violated procurement laws, constitutional obligations and public trust.

The fire-eating court also ordered the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, “to ensure that all future procurement or expenditure of public funds by the National Assembly strictly complies with the requirements of due process and is also guided by the principles of transparency, accountability and value for money.”

The sentence pronounced on Wednesday 6 May 2026 by judge Yellim Bogoro in case no. was like a breath of fresh oxygen. FHC/L/CS/1606/2023, filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the National Assembly.

It must be recalled that SERAP had already lapsed into the silence of a controversial judgment when the FCT High Court in Abuja ordered the body to pay the Directorate of State Services (DSS) a whopping $100 million as damages!

SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare said his organization filed a lawsuit in August 2023 against Senate President Akpabio and President Abbas over their plans to spend $40 billion on 465 vehicles and $70 billion in allowances for new lawmakers amid worsening economic hardship across the country.

Judge Bogoro delivered the ruling: “Looking at the magnitude of the expense, combined with the absence of demonstrable due process, leads me to conclude that the procurement is arbitrary, disproportionate and inconsistent with legal procurement standards.”

The tyrannical Lady Justice pointed out that “the beneficiaries of the expenditure are the same officials who approve it, and the expenditure confers direct pecuniary and material benefits.” He then added this crucial argument: “This in my opinion constitutes a case of self-dealing and conflict of interest.”

According to Justice Bogoro, “I have taken judicial note of the economic realities in Nigeria and the widespread financial hardship affecting Nigerian citizens. In this context, the allocation of $110 billion for the benefit of legislators demonstrates a failure to prioritize the national interest. The defendants have urged the Court to decline jurisdiction on the grounds of legislative autonomy. It should be noted that the doctrine of separation of powers does not serve as a shield for lawlessness. Interestingly, the Court is concerned about the legality and constitutionality of legislative spending. Allocation of $110 billion to the benefit of legislators also undermines the fiduciary duty owed to the Nigerian people. Public offices must not be used for personal enrichment.

For SERAP, Judge Bogoro’s ruling is “a great victory for transparency, accountability and responsible management of public resources in Nigeria”.

If democracy is to survive in Nigeria, public office must be seen as a public asset. Spending money as if it were out of fashion has been the rule rather than the exception in the conduct of public officials.

There is also the need to induce corrupt politicians to vomit all their ill-gotten gains against all grounds of prudence and probity.

The legislators who were living large are then called to order to prevent the Sword of Damocles from coming upon them and their spoils.

It needs to be reiterated that whenever there is a breakdown in the democratic process it is the legislature that is effectively dismissed while the judiciary remains, even if some civilians are brought into the ruling junta.

The bazaar of corruption cannot be sustained.

I would like to end this piece with a quote from the soothsayer’s lines in James Ene Henshaw’s play, This is our chancethat we staged in elementary school: “A strong wind will blow, a great rain will fall, a lot of harm will be done, but from the destruction calm will reign and everything will no longer be as it was before”.

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