“The most distinctive characteristic of the successful politician is selective cowardice” Arguably, the above statement by a political philosopher, Richard Harris, is the only way to capture the recent cat and mouse game between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC) and Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.

Iyabo, the first daughter of the immediate past president, Olusegun Obasanjo is one of those implicated in the N300 million unspent budget of the nation’s Ministry of Health.

Since the scam broke out, all efforts by the anti-graft body to arraign her have failed amid controversies.
But the President of West African Bar Association (WABA), Mr Femi Falana (SAN) urged senator Obasanjo-Bello to submit herself to the law like every other citizen saying that Nigeria does not have hereditary immunity in her constitution and Iyabo should not fantasize over such privileges. The legal icon cautioned that she cannot commit contempt of the court and go scot free as it was only a matter of time before the law catches up with her.

For the president of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dr Joe Odumakin, if Iyabo is allowed to go free, it means that everybody is not equal before the law. She said that those in positions of authority should live exemplary lives as a standard for others asking, “ if others can be arraigned, why not her ?”.
She said that the former president’s daughter was only running away from the law because she believed in her “backers”.

Another radical lawyer, mr Festus Keyamo added his voice describing Iyabo as a fujitive criminal who should be declared wanted by the EFFC.
Keyamo dismissed insinuations that she was being punished for the sins of her father asking if her father took N10 million from the unspent budget of the Ministry of Health.
The raging controversy shows that life is indeed, a mystery. It can launch one to the mountain top just the same way it can push one down the valley. As the days go by, one is continually challenged by uncertainties. Life plays tricks on all, irrespective of status.

The controversies which have trailed Senator Iyabo Obasanjo Bello of late have proved all that. Before now, particularly when her father, Obasanjo, was in charge of the nation’s ship of state, she was one of the most respected or feared Nigerians. In a country crazy for titles, she was accorded a special honour for being the “first daughter”.

At several fora, President Obasanjo was introduced as Baba Iyabo. That was the level of recognition accorded her and in 2007 general election, it was not surprising she easily won the senatorial seat for Ogun central district.

But it appears that for most people, there is usually a point of anti-climax. For sometime now, it had been one controversy or the other for Iyabo who in the recent past was not only much revered but regarded as occupying a critical position in the nation’s power equation.
Among critical observers, opinions are divided over her travails. For some, she is simply paying the price of being her father’s daughter. The argument is that one of the ways through which the former president’s political opponents could get at him would be through his daughter, Iyabo.

But many consider the argument pedestrian because in their position, it is better to appreciate the substance of the controversies than indulge in sentimental interpretations of the circumstances of her birth.
Last year, Iyabo was named in a N3.5 billion scam. Against her was a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alleging that as commissioner for Health in Ogun State, she actively participated in the signing of a deal as a business partner to one Albert Awofisayo. The company of Awofisayo, Vamed Engineering Nigeria limited allegedly got N27 billion contract to refurbish 17 teaching hospitals in Nigeria.

It was further disclosed in the petition that Obasanjo-Bello impersonated, Mrs Damilola Akinlawon who was later discovered to be her grandmother in the deal.
In the document, it was alleged that there was a plan to set up M. Schneider Energy which did bid for power project contracts during the regime of Obasanjo. It was said that Akija, a company partly owned by Iyabo and one of her siblings, Busola, was given 10 percent equity in the said energy company.
At the moment, the allegation is still hanging on the neck of Iyabo even as investigations by the EFCC continues.

Not long ago also, the former first daughter was declared wanted in far away United States for allegedly violating a court order on child custody.
Sources revealed that Iyabo was said to have committed contempt of an order by a U.S district court judge, Charles Anderson of the state of North Carolina.
The court was reported to have been miffed that Senator Obasanjo Bello took her son, Jimi, and returned to Nigeria after a joint custody had been granted to her and Mr Akeem Bello, her former husband.
The report showed that Iyabo was a plaintiff in a divorce case first heard by Alonzo B. Coleman Jnr of the State of North Carolina. It was reported that the U.S court had asked local, state and international law enforcement officers to arrest her any time they spot her with the threat that when arrested, she should be committed to the Chatharu county jail located in Pittsboro, North Carolina, U.S.A.

Senator Iyabo’s ordeals worsened recently when she was mentioned in a N300 million unspent budget scandal in the ministry of Health. Her Senate committee on health was said to have been given N10 million as part of the unspent budget in the Health ministry last year. Despite all efforts to free her by colleagues in the senate, the EFCC has continued to insist that she would be prosecuted for the involvement of her committee.

The anti-graft body recently released a report of plans to amend the 56 count charges against the ministers of the Health Ministry, Prof. Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku among others including Iyabo Obasanjo Bello.
According to EFFC, Senator Obasanjo Bello would be arraigned on April 28, 2008. As at Thursday, the embattled senator was said to have gone underground to evade arrest by the EFCC. Operatives of the commission were said to have laid a four hour siege to her 19, Alex Ekwueme Abuja residence last Tuesday to no avail. According to sources, Iyabo and the EFCC have been engaged in a cat and mouse game with the fear that she may be declared wanted by the anti-graft body eventually. The calculation is that she may have gone underground despite her declaration last week that she was ready to face the EFCC.

But she recently told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that EFCC agents slapped her personal assistant during their visit to her house. “I am afraid of the EFCC... they slapped my PA when they got to the house. I'm not on the run but I feel as if I'm a victim of harassment... I'm afraid for my life,” she added.
It will be recalled that her ascendancy to the senatorial seat of her state was not without controversies. Candidates who were considered as her opponents were harassed by the EFCC and declared unfit for their positions. One of them was the scion of the Oke-ona Egba throne, Prince Lanre Tejuosho of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP).

Pundits believe that if it were in developed societies, the controversies trailing her were enough to make her resign from her present seat in the senate.
The former Oslo Mayor’s daughter, Cecilie Ditlev-Simonsen resigned her juicy job in a partly state owned company after a tax evasion scandal involving her and the dad.
They both admitted to having funds in a secret Swiss account that were never declared to the tax authorities in the 1990s. The scandal made the mayor to throw in the towel.
There is also the case of Richard Roberts, President of the evangelical Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. He was forced to resign following a law suit containing accusations against him and his wife. They were accused of sending their daughter and several other of her friends on a trip to the Bahamas on a university owned jet.

The Roberts were also accused of having provided their daughters with a stable of horses. They denied it all but Mr Roberts stepped aside as president of the university.
But for Iyabo-Obasanjo Bello, all the controversies against her were just the machinations of her father’s political opponents. She captured her ordeals thus in one of her responses to her travails: “Does it mean because I am Obasanjo’s daughter ,I cannot do anything again in this country. I have worked hard all my life. I am a PhD holder by dint of hard work.”
The question on the lips of many is,does the former first daughter deserve all the challenges she is facing? At the moment, many believe it is too early to draw conclusions, as the drama is still unfolding.