The Invisible Hands: How Nigerian Public Officials Use Personal Assistants as Fronts for Corruption -By Leonard Karahima Shilgba

So, you are a Personal Assistant (PA) to a Nigerian public official, the Big men and Big madams? Eat while you can safely do so, but remember: you are EXPENDABLE. Like a drug courier must not expose the big drug lord when caught, the PA must not squeal when caught. That is the unwritten creed. And note this, the PA could be “disappeared” if confidence in his sealed lips is shaken. It is the game of the jackals.

Those who don’t know, or who try to convince their conscience that they don’t know, will completely exonerate the Principal when the PA is caught. But what is the job description of a PA? Can you exonerate a prostitute from losing her virginity or claim the innocence of her  pimp? Wisdom is justified of her children.

Job Description of Personal Assistants (PAs):

PAs are  not merely aides, but often covert operatives in the service of their Principals.

Let me explain the modus operandi and the strategic distancing that occurs when scandals break. First, we consider the process of recruiting and grooming a PA:

Selection is not based on merit but LOYALTY. Often, selection of a PA is among family members, political loyalists, or trusted protégés.

* Preliminary Grooming: PAs are introduced to the inner workings of their principal’s office and trusted with sensitive tasks. Then, the next stage is training on discretion.

* PAs are taught to be loyal, silent, and expendable. This is certification in LSE (Loyal, Silent, and Expendable): “PA, loyally eat the fat with silence, but know that I will throw you under the bus when caught,” says the Principal, and the PA nods like a lizard in self-congratulation.

Delegation of Illicit Tasks:

* Money laundering and cash handling: PAs are sent to banks or used as conduits for large cash withdrawals or transfers, including shipping to secret bank accounts abroad.

* Award of inflated or phantom contracts: PAs act as signatories or “owners” of shell companies, which bid for and win contracts under the supervision of the Principal.

* Real estate and procurement scams: Properties or vehicles are often acquired in the names of PAs to hide the real beneficiaries. So, when you hear that a PA has been found by the EFCC to own expensive multi-million or multi-billion  naira houses or cars, don’t believe one bit that the Principal is unaware unless you are contesting for the Fools prize on April Fool’s Day. By the way, the managerial and intellectual capacities of a Principal should be questioned if he or she claims ignorance of billions or tens of billions of naira worth of assets “owned” by a close PA that has been with them for more than 10 years!

* Negotiating bribes and kickbacks: PAs often collect bribes or negotiate on behalf of the official, insulating the Principal. “Oga, I have seen your PA o,” the contractor says over the phone. “No wahala. Find time and send your company manager to sign the contract. Mr. President will approve this week,” replies the Principal. If this deal falls through, the PA may be arrested, not the Principal. This is how a humongous sum such as N10 billion could be related to a PA. Those who have eyes, but choose to use them to watch European league soccer matches only should stone their teachers. Let me teach you. Now, for example, suppose a Principal is in charge of an agency, for instance, the Ecological Fund, and many construction companies that want to construct drainage systems, dams, etc., “see the PA” of the Principal in the hope of getting sumptuous contracts. What if Mr. President eventually pulls the rug after this? The PA will be the fall guy, but the truth is known among the contractors and government circles, including Mr. President. The PA’s head is on the chopping block, but ignorant lackeys and hangers-on will shout “saintly” spewings against those who allege “guilt by association” against the Principal. This too is a trouble with Nigerians.

Use of PAs for Political Manipulation:

* Electoral deals: During election seasons,  PAs deliver cash, “secure” votes, or engage in intimidation tactics.

* Media management: Additionally, some PAs are assigned to coordinate disinformation campaigns or pay off journalists. Social media platforms are awash with them, where they make no rational case for societal development, but serve as attack dogs against decent men and women in society, who, ordinarily, they could not sit together with in conference.

Distancing When Scandal Breaks:

Now, there is a slip up by the LSE-certified PA.

* Denial of involvement: The Principal claims ignorance of the PA’s activities. Directs press releases disavowing culpability. But read between the lines: The statement may claim that “the accused is only a long-serving Personal Assistant of the Principal, but is not a staff of the office.” It is not uncommon that a Personal Assistant has no official appointment letter from the Principal! Watch for the next step.

* Dismissal or suspension: The PA is quickly relieved of duty to signal the official’s “zero tolerance for corruption.” Oh, the gullible segment of Nigerians will applaud the Principal for being a “no-nonsense” public official. Don’t buy that! Unless the Principal takes responsibility for his choice and actions of the PA and steps aside, even momentarily,  pending conclusion of official investigations, they are just playing those plebians who choose to be played. Your PA is you in government. He or she is not a government appointee assigned to your office by an authority such as the Head of Service or  Federal Civil Service Commission, but your choice of PERSONAL Assistant! In fact, you may not have even issued him an official appointment letter (many PAs have no formal appointment letters). By the way, PAs leave with their Principals after the tenure or termination of the appointment of the Principal.

* No legal consequences for the principal: Law enforcement often halts at the PA’s level, especially if the Principal is politically connected.

* Use of narrative control: The media is fed the story of a “rogue assistant,” diverting attention infrom the Principal. Really?

Systemic Factors Enabling This Practice:

* Weak institutional checks: Anti-corruption agencies often lack independence or are politically controlled. Therefore, they watch the body language of certain top heads of government agencies or arms, and make sure their reading is right. How independent is the ICPC or EFCC?

* Cultural loyalty structures:  Ethnic or political ties create a shield of silence. When a member within an ethnic group raises questions of morality or ethics regarding a public official from the same ethnic group, the tribal gang spews venomous words and bare hideous fangs at them. How about “he is a party man, don’t shame him”  culture?

* Legal loopholes and lack of transparency: Asset declarations are not publicly audited or enforced, so of what use is Asset Declaration, except to selectively victimize?

* Public apathy or fear:  Citizens may be too disillusioned or scared to push for deeper investigations seeing that a few who do are treated as pariahs among their friends, tribal clans, families, or organizations. I think Nigerians enjoy sleaze and malfeasance, but pretend to hate only when the beneficiaries are afar off. A pitiable nation deserving no comfort or mercy until they show, truly show, they need it! Cast not that which is holy to the dogs nor pearls to the swine.

Notable Examples (without naming individuals):

* PAs caught with unexplained millions in cash during airport checks.

* PA caught by the EFCC with billions of inexplicable wealth in cash and assets across some states in Nigeria.

* PA arraigned for contract fraud involving state funds.

* PA used as a signatory to offshore accounts later traced to missing funds.

 Recommendations:

We can’t continue like this in Nigeria without destroying the nation completely.

* Legislate accountability for political aides’ actions: This should include enforceable  provisions to tie the Principal to the underhand deals of his PA. Then, Nigerian public officials will do due diligence before picking a PA instead picking those that would readily front for them in improper or duplicitous deals.

* Mandate asset declarations for PAs and aides of public officials: This will reduce the motivation to steal under the table, because PAs are often safes of Nigerian public officials.

* Strengthen whistleblower protection: Nigerians must blow the whistle, but wouldn’t like to blow away either their livelihoods or lives.

* Enhance the independence and resourcing of anti-corruption bodies: Necessary legislative amendments should be made to grant practical independence to anti-corruption agencies like the EFCC and ICPC.

Public officials in Nigeria often use PAs as “plausible deniability tools,” creating a system where corruption thrives while responsibility is obscured. Tackling this requires both legal reform and a cultural shift in accountability and transparency. And, who knows, tackling the PA malaise in Nigerian public sector may just be an opening for the revival of probity in our national life. Nigerians are too inured to everything that destroys nations to squirm at them anymore. They have normalized evil and made villains out of saints.

© Shilgba