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Lauded graft fighter Nurdin Abdullah named bribery suspect
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he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named South Sulawesi governor Nurdin Abdullah – who has been celebrated for his antigraft stance – a suspect in a bribery case following his arrest on Saturday.
Nurdin has been accused of accepting Rp 2 billion (US$139,874) in bribes from Agung Sucipto, a director of a Bulukumba-based construction company, to facilitate certain projects in the province. Agung allegedly gave the money to Nurdin by way of Edy Rahmat, a secretary at the South Sulawesi Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency and Nurdin's right hand man.
KPK investigators arrested Nurdin in his official residence in Makassar early on Saturday, two hours after they arrested Edy at his house, where they also found a sum of Rp 2 billion in a suitcase. Before that, investigators arrested Agung in his car as he was returning to Bulukumba regency after allegedly handing the money over to Edy. Agung and Edy were named suspects in the case as well.
Nurdin and the two other men were transferred from Makassar to Jakarta on Saturday morning. Upon his arrival in Jakarta, Nurdin told journalists that he had been sleeping when the KPK investigators arrived at his residence and detained him for questioning.
On Friday morning, several hours before the arrests, the governor inaugurated 11 regents and mayors who had been elected in the 2020 regional elections. During the ceremony, Nurdin told the newly elected regional leaders to do their job well, tribunnews.com reported.
Read also: S. Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah, known for his antigraft stance, arrested by KPK
Nurdin was elected in the 2018 South Sulawesi gubernatorial race. His running mate was Andi Sudirman Sulaiman, the brother of former agriculture minister Andi Amran Sulaiman. The ticket was backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and the pair secured 1.86 million votes to defeat Nurdin Halid – former Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) chief – and Abdul Aziz Qahhar Mudzakkar, who won 1.16 million votes.
Saturday’s arrest may leave a mark on Nurdin’s previously stellar reputation for fighting corruption. In 2017, he was awarded the prestigious Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award for his commitment to good governance as the regent of Bantaeng.
The award’s judges credited Nurdin with several innovations in the regency, including the implementation of a bidding system for official positions. The then-regent also introduced a system that would rotate officials every three or six months to avoid “a comfort zone for corruption”. In addition, Nurdin introduced a one-day service program for the issuance of permits. Under Nurdin’s administration, Bantaeng’s economy grew as investors brought trillions of rupiah into the region.
“Corruption occurs when there is power, opportunity and greed,” KPK chairman Firli Bahuri said at a press briefing early on Sunday. “Don’t think that an award recipient will never commit corruption.”
Agung had allegedly been communicating with Edy since early February to facilitate projects for the year and negotiate bribes. The KPK said Agung knew Nurdin well before the alleged bribery and that the former had built roads and sidewalks in the province in past projects worth billions of rupiah.
The KPK also suspected that Nurdin had received bribes from other contractors between late 2020 and early February of this year.
Nurdin is the first governor to be investigated for corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are truly concerned about this corruption case, which does not only violate the law but also harms the country's finances and economy and the rights of the people, especially now that we are all facing the COVID-19 pandemic," Firli said.
Nurdin's arrest marks yet another recent high-profile corruption case. Late last year, the KPK named two then-ministers – Edhy Prabowo and Juliari Batubara – suspects in separate graft cases.
The investigations into Edhy and Juliari came as public trust in the KPK waned in response to controversies, including an ethics violation by its new chairman, Firli, and a new law that stripped the agency of some of its powers to investigate graft. (ipa)
