BY TAIWO FAROTIMI
Finally, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the suave and cerebral Minister of Finance has thrown in the towel. President Muhammadu Buhari has also accepted her resignation. But for her and the administration established on a mantra of zero tolerance for corruption, tagging on in office for 69 days after failing to defend a certificate scandal remains a notable stain.
Mrs. Adeosun was alleged in a publication by the Premium Times, an online newspaper, to have falsified a certificate of exemption from national service. For that period of time, a normally loquacious minister kept sealed lips, and the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, which purportedly issued the certificate, could not find its voice. The issue became a national embarrassment. Media managers in the presidency were made to defend the image of government even as they shield a colleague who should have owned up to a mess she only should take credit for.
The woman at the centre of the crisis suddenly forgot the culture of the United Kingdom, the surreal environment where she was born and educated. She did not immediately tender her resignation and apologise for the infraction. Rather, she pretended as if the allegation did not exist, and would not respond to questions about the veracity or otherwise of the accusation. While the debacle lasted, some even floated a conspiracy theory, suggesting that the media was doing the job of an attack dog for some mythical enemies of the administration.
For discerning admirers of the 51-year old former minister, the development left a sour taste in the mouth. That feeling is right, because the woman comes across as intelligent and dedicated. An accountant and public accounts professional, Mrs. Adeosun graduated at the age of 22 from the University of East London, where she read Economics. She thereafter proceeded to do a diploma in Public Financial Management at the University of London. Mrs. Adeosun became a chartered accountant in 1994 with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
She started her career with British Telecoms, from where she proceeded to Goodman Jones, London, where she was a senior audit officer before moving to become manager audit at London Underground, London and Prism Consulting for six years.
She left the place in 2000 for PricewaterHouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network headquartered in London, as senior manager. Two years later, she was engaged as financial controller at Chapel Hill Denham Management and rose to become the Managing Director. She left in 2010 to manage her Quo Vadis from where she was appointed Commissioner for Finance in Ogun State by the administration of Governor Ibikunle Amosun.
One of the first things she brought to her office in Abuja was the Treasury Single Account, TSA, a system that allows for all revenue to be in one loop that encourages easy monitoring of revenue and expenditure of government. She had done it successfully to boost the finance of her home state of Ogun. There was strong resistance from some ministries and parastatals, but the Ministry of Finance, with the support of President Muhammadu Buhari, enforced the compliance. It was attractive to the president because it falls in line with his ace programme of war against corruption.
Gradually, those who in 2015 felt that her feet were too small for the shoes left behind by the likes of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former coordinating Minister for the economy started to show interest in her strides. Then, came the voluntary assets and income declaration scheme, VAIDS, an initiative that has started to bring in more people and organizations into the tax bracket and has increased the tax revenue of the federal government.
She was able to drive the initiatives with the e-unit (efficiency unit) she created in her ministry within her first month in office.
Under her watch, the Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, was established with support from the World Bank, European Investment Bank and African Development Bank to get support for the growth of micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the country. Though the bank that started operation last year is yet to have much impact on the sector, it holds promise for the critical sector of an economy that was in a state of paralysis by the time the current administration took over in 2015.
Little wonder that the government was initially reluctant to ask her to bow out.
But by allowing the gains of the ministry to blur its sight to the obvious allegation of forgery levelled against the former minister, the government further have room for a dent on its credibility. Yes, she did her best in office. But she is like the chef who prepared a good meal and while we were still savouring the taste of her cuisine, she farted. We are faced with the uncomfortable situation of asking the steward to excuse us if we are to enjoy the product from the kitchen.
Adeosun’s case ran along the same line with the case of corruption for which Mr. Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, was indicted. The president also foot-dragged on the matter before public outcry, as it also happened in the case of Mrs. Adeosun, forced it to relieve Mr. Lawal of his job. His trial is still pending.
The argument has been that the former minister violated the regulations of the NYSC, by not undergoing national youth service and then also falsified the certificate to give the impression that she was given exemption by the body even though she graduated before age 30. Now that she has resigned, albeit belatedly, the question remains as to whether she will be made to answer for the crime of forgery, and of course for dodging a compulsory national service.
Whatever happens, for Adeosun, the issue has become like the proverbial scarlet letter; it is likely to be the tag with which she would be introduced to any gathering, even if in whispers, for a long time to come.