A political analyst and Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Sam Amadi, has said that public officials facing serious allegations should temporarily step aside to allow credible and transparent investigations.
Naijaonpoint reports that Amadi said that where an affected official refused to step aside voluntarily, the President should demand accountability and ensure that the police were allowed to investigate without interference.
He made the remarks while reacting to the controversy surrounding the death of Mary Habila, a 26-year-old nurse who was linked to the Minister of Works, David Umahi.
The analyst described the handling of the matter as “both a PR disaster and an ethical disaster,” arguing that the minister should have first reported to the police and allowed investigators to control public communication concerning the case.
Amadi maintained that stepping aside should be expected whenever allegations against a public official were sufficiently serious to undermine public confidence.
“You have to balance it. First, they ought to step aside when the allegations are weighty. But even if they don’t, the boss—the President, ought to demand that,” he said.
He argued that Habila’s proximity to the minister made it necessary for investigators to formally obtain statements from everyone closely connected to the circumstances surrounding her death.
Amadi said, “Let’s look at this case with Umahi; this is both a PR disaster and an ethical disaster.
“I’ve never seen a minister who doesn’t travel with nurses if they have personal medical needs, but a 26-year-old lady as a personal nurse who stays with you, travels with you and stays in your house, and then passes away under these circumstances?
“That’s enough for you to go first to the police and make a statement. The police should depose you because you’re the prime suspect by virtue of proximity, whether you’re a good man or a bad man; that’s just what it is.”
Amadi’s description of the minister as a suspect was his own opinion and had not been confirmed by the police.
The political analyst also criticised Umahi for repeatedly speaking publicly about the incident instead of allowing security agencies to take charge of official communication.
He said the police should be issuing regular updates to reassure Nigerians that the matter was being investigated independently.
“Instead, he has been on a show, running press conferences, talking about the case, precluding everything,” he said.
Amadi also questioned reports that Habila’s parents signed an affidavit indicating that they did not want further medical examination of the body.
“And the affidavit the parents supposedly signed to say, ‘We don’t want anything, we don’t want a press check’—anybody looking at it will say this looks like a cover-up, that these people were pressured to do it,” he alleged.
The allegation of pressure has not been established by any competent authority.
Amadi faulted what he described as the absence of regular official statements from the police concerning the case.
He said, “In these circumstances, what do you expect of the police first? The police have made no official statement.
“This is a case where the police public relations officer should be speaking, giving regular updates. That gives people confidence.”
He accused the government of failing to respond appropriately to public concerns surrounding the case.
Amadi added, “The fact that it appears to be tolerated is even more galling.
“But the point is, like I said before, this government has been proficient in disregarding public morality, proficient in cover-ups, and proficient in asserting diffidence against public ethics.”
Speaking on the Federal Government’s anti-corruption campaign, Amadi said the recovery of assets suspected to be proceeds of crime should not be treated as a substitute for criminal prosecution.
According to him, the real measure of an effective anti-corruption campaign is the successful prosecution and conviction of corrupt public officials.
