It has long been established that a subordinate has no legal obligation to obey illegal orders from his/her superior. This point is important as we examine the recent nauseating revelations about the huge sums of money that the former finance minister, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, made available to the now arrested former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

Few days ago, Okonjo-Iweala admitted giving Sambo Dasuki the sum of $322m on the orders of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Before that the same Okonjo-Iweala admitted spending $2bn
from the Excess Crude Oil account on the orders of the former President. The Central Bank of Nigeria under Godwin Emefiele has admitted giving Sambo Dasuki billions of Naira and dollars on the orders of the former president. A good part of these monies were given to Sambo Dasuki in cash in clear contravention of existing anti-money laundering laws by the country’s chief banker. Let us put the money laundering issue to the side for now.

The problem with the orders from the former President to the then finance minister and current CBN governor is that they were illegal. Neither the President nor any other government official in Nigeria has the legal authority to order the spending of funds that have not been appropriated by the National Assembly! Both subordinates knew or ought to know that the orders they were obeying were illegal and should have refused to comply. Resignation was an option. Between these two subordinates they cost the nation in excess of $5B by obeying the referenced illegal orders. That is just what we know so far and this kind of behavior is going on at every level of government everyday.

The arrest and prosecution of Okonjo-Iweala and Godwin Emediefe will send out the message that “the president ordered the payment” is not a defense known to the laws of Nigeria. Their prosecution is imperative in light of the fact that a lot of the money being stolen in the country is not in the custody of the people stealing them. They rely on a group of people that I call facilitators in an upcoming article to get access to public funds in the custody of the facilittors. 

In almost every case of monies made available to Sambo Dasuki, all those making the money available were following illegal orders and they knew it. The time has come for Buhari to beam the searchlight on this group of people. The commercial bankers who allow government officials to come into their banks and withdraw millions and billions in cash in apparent violation of anti-money laundering laws are facilitators of corruption because they know the funds are dirty hence the need to terminate the paper trail through cash withdrawal. The bankers ought to be in jail too partly because they make tracing these funds more complicated.

To understand the importance of subordinates not obeying illegal orders, imagine that Okonjo-Iweala, NNPC and Godwin Emefiele refused to obey the former President’s illegal orders and resigned under pressure and spilled the beans. With Nigerians fully aware of the attempted fraud it would have been difficult for their replacements to obey the same illegal orders. Buhari’s anti-corruption war must involve establishing a culture that encourages civil servants, and bank employees to disobey illegal orders. This will prevent our money from leaving the treasury rather than chasing after the money after it has been stolen.

Before closing I will like to remind people that a majority of the civilians and military officers who were tried, executed or jailed by the post-World War 2 Nuremberg Trials courts in Germany were obeying orders from Adolf Hitler. The problem was that Adolf Hitler had no legal basis for issuing the orders and those who ended up being executed for obeying the orders had no obligation to obey the orders. 

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Godwin Emefiele should be familiar with the Nuremberg Trials. The lesson is that a superior cannot order a subordinate to do anything that the superior has no authority to do himself/herself. Nigerians must rid themselves of the idea that a President has the power to order anyone to do anything in the absence of enabling legislation. Na oga say make I do am is not a defense.

adconline:
Please stop this Nonsense!! GMB cannot be the investigator, prosecutor, police, judge, executor in these cases. Let the be charged if they have enough evidence... We aren't in Idi Amin republic!!

bettercreature:
They were carrying out GEJ's order,i dont see a reason why they should be arrested
You are just in hurry,Dasuki will never go down alone

dazdilijae:
I would ask is the release Bail out fund by Buhari to states appropriated? Why would the same Buhari the order the arrest of okonjo when he has commited the same crime? If he does then he should be...The law is for every1 big or small, minister or president.

oduastates:

President has no power to order money from the treasury apart from the money appropriated by the national assembly . Even at that, the money must be spent on what it was appropriated.

bettercreature:
How much did you get from all these stolen funds? stop acting like illiterate,we youth are the one paying for these bullcraps,You are right to some point tho,PMB must not get involve

bettercreature:
President is supreme in Nigeria,those things you mentioned are just in the book,refuse to carry out presidential order at your own peril

Proudnigga:
what the guy was trying to say is: why don't buhari arrest and prosecute former president Goodluck Jonathan since all those involved in the deal did as instructed by the former President

EdCure:


At least the Buhari bail-out funds was publicised, the amount known and the purpose understood.
Can the same be said about the Jonathan/Okonjo/Emefiele licentous withdrawals?

oduastates:


Exactly why the SW voted him out.
His lack of mechanism to moderate his animal instinct and the unitary powers granted by a devious Nigerian constitution.
You have unlawful leeway to do as you like does not mean you should.

EdCure:


At least the Buhari bail-out funds was publicised, the amount known and the purpose understood.
Can the same be said about the Jonathan/Okonjo/Emefiele licentous withdrawals?

mazzi:
In other clime what we see are real court trail and sentencing but in nigeria what we see are people standing on trail on the pages of newspaper.

tunjion:
Aboki must be using yoruba identity, becos i dont know see wen my people have become so bigoted and tribalist that they want every igbo persecuted.

Everytime they write press, if it is not Stella Oduah, IT is Alison Madueke, now Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and Emefiele. Nobody ask of Fashola or Tinubu?

tdammy:
All this confused Nigerian youth I don tire for unaa especially nairaland youth, U are all shouting corruption corruption corruption.

Can U imaging d amount of monie this people are just moving(stealing). All this monie in dasuki's case alone is enough to build a standard hospital in every local government in Nigeria, yet some idiot go dey spilt rubbish for mouth.


If buhari is going to go tru illegal means to recover stolen funds let him go ahead.

That's part of leadership.