Atiku Abubakar & Muhammedu Buhari. |
Yesterday
at a town hall meeting hosted by Kadaria Ahmed and broadcast on the Nigerian
Television Authority, President Muhammadu Buhari, when confronted with the fact
that he has not spoken to condemn the obvious corruption of his crony, the Kano
State Governor, Umar Ganduje, defended himself by saying that he was bound by
law to maintain his silence.
His
actual words were: “The State Assembly is investigating and they have the
mandate to deal with it and they have also gone to court, so I decided not to
talk about it.”
We find
this excuse untenable because the President has not shown this level of
restraint when condemning the alleged corruption of others who happen not
to be members of his party, the APC.
On
many occasions, President Buhari has pre-judicially commented on the cases of
non APC members and even acted as judge and jury by convicting them with his utterances
in Nigeria and abroad. These cases are too numerous to mention but include his
utterances on Sambo Dasuki, former Governor Ayo Fayose and a former head of
state, whom he said ‘did not steal’ despite several court convictions that
established that he did.
This
partiality of the President is most disturbing, as it is proof positive that he
is fighting the opposition and not corruption. Perhaps this is why Transparency
International’s latest Corruption Perception Index has established that Nigeria
is more corrupt today, under President Buhari, than before he was sworn in on
May 29, 2015 (and not May 19, 2015, as he claimed in Kogi).
Quite
strangely, President Buhari, however, did not allow Ganduje’s pending court
case stop him from praising his crony, the Kano Governor when he went to Paris
in November of last year.
Even
further damaging was the President’s defence of another of his cronies,
Babachir Lawal, whom he said cannot be charged because of a lack of evidence.
We are embarrassed for the President that he could make such a public faux pas.
Mr.
Babachir Lawal was caught red-handed. Monies meant for Internally Displaced
Persons were traced to his bank accounts after he awarded his company an
inflated contract. His hand was literally caught in the cookie jar. He was
investigated by the Senate and indicted for his misdemeanour. We are thus
nonplussed by the President’s comments requesting for evidence before he can
move against Mr. Lawal.
The
question is this: does being members of the All Progressive Congress confer the
President’s cronies with immunity for their crimes?
Both
the money that Governor Umar Ganduje was shown on camera receiving as bribes
and the funds siphoned by Mr. Babachir Lawal, could have been used to create
jobs for Nigerians or in providing educational and health infrastructure to
address the world record poverty now affecting Nigeria.
For
these monies to be collected and used to create jobs, we urge Nigerians to vote
for the PDP candidate, because Atiku means JOBS. Atiku would fight corruption
whether in his party or in the opposition and ensure that Nigeria’s wealth is
used for the benefit of the many rather than the few cronies of Mr. President
as is the case today.
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