As former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika prepares to face arraignment over alleged abuse of office and fraud involving his daughter and son-in-law, the case casts an eerie shadow over the burgeoning scandal surrounding President Bola Tinubu’s son Seyi and the Lagos-Calabar coastal road contract.
The striking similarities between the two situations are impossible to ignore – powerful politicians standing accused of leveraging their positions to confer lucrative benefits upon their family members and associates, at the expense of due process, public interest, and ethical governance.
According to the charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Sirika is alleged to have used his ministerial influence to fraudulently award contracts worth billions of naira to companies effectively controlled by his daughter Fatima and son-in-law Jalal Hamma. The nepotistic web is further tightened by accusations that he engaged in criminal breach of trust by dishonestly facilitating these shady deals.
The apparent impunity with which Sirika purportedly operated, funneling public funds into the coffers of companies owned by his close relatives, is a damning indictment of the level of graft that had become normalized within the previous administration. It paints a disturbing picture of state capture, where public office was seemingly weaponized as a tool for self-enrichment rather than servant leadership.
Alarmingly, this alleged modus operandi bears an uncanny resemblance to the accusations currently swirling around President Tinubu and the controversial award of the multi-billion naira Lagos-Calabar coastal road project to Hitech Construction Company Ltd – a firm with direct links to the President’s son, Seyi.
Much like the Sirika case, concerns have been raised about potential conflicts of interest, circumvention of due process, unlawful property demolitions, violation of court orders, and a disregard for environmental compliance – all in service of steering a lucrative public works contract towards a company with familial ties to the nation’s leader.
The presidency’s feeble defense of Seyi’s “right to do business” does little to address the substantive issues at hand. It is not the mere act of engaging in commerce that is objectionable, but rather the alleged exploitation of privileged access and positional authority to secure lucrative deals at the expense of competitive bidding, oversight, and the broader public good.
If the allegations prove accurate, both cases would represent a brazen subversion of the sacred public trust, transforming the highest offices into personal profit-making enterprises for the benefit of a kleptocratic few. This is an utter betrayal of the principles of ethical leadership, accountability, and the equitable stewardship of public resources.
As Sirika prepares to face justice, his case serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked nepotism and the pervasive rot it can breed within the corridors of power. President Tinubu would do well to heed the lessons of this cautionary tale and take decisive action to address the swirling allegations around his own family’s dealings.
Failure to do so would not only risk irreparably tarnishing his administration’s credibility from the outset but would also perpetuate the very culture of impunity and graft that he promised to uproot. Nigerians deserve far better than a repackaged iteration of the same old kleptocratic tricks – they demand true accountability, ethical leadership, and a government that serves the people rather than itself.
The writing is on the wall. President Tinubu now faces a pivotal choice: uphold the highest standards of probity and transparency, or go down in history as just another perpetrator of dynastic nepotism and state capture. The nation’s eyes are firmly fixed, awaiting his response.
Reference
EFCC To Arraign Sirika, Daughter, Two Others Over Alleged Fraud Thursday published in Channels by Donatus Anichukwueze