The Lynx-eye …with Taiwo Adisa Sunday Tribune, October 26, 2014 2015: How will Buhari fight corruption? Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari has thrown his hat into the ring of the 2015 Presidential contest. It would be his fought time on that beat if he picks the ticket of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). Of all the presidential hopefuls, General Buhari is one person who has hinged his contest on the war against corruption. The General has condemned the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for dragging the country backwards in almost all facets of life. Of course, no one should expect Buhari to praise the party he wants to replace for doing well in office. One thing that catches my attention is the way Buhari has celebrated himself as an anti-corruption icon and one who can fix Nigeria’s security challenges. His online followers appear incensed by the commitment of this man to fighting corruption and “Changing” Nigeria and to them his credentials in that regard are completely infallible. It has become pertinent to put some questions through before they succeed in browbeating many and dragging us all on their preferred lane. It is equally imperative to present Nigerians with all sides of the reality on ground, which you can be sure is untainted by emotional outbursts of possible mere hero worshippers. First, if Buhari is so much a security wizard, why did he fail to secure his own regime, leading to his arrest just like a common Private by the Babangida Boys who upstaged him from office? For military governments, it is sacrilegious to toy with issues of regime protection. If Buhari thus failed to deploy his security wizardry to protect himself, how can anyone hail him as the messiah to come? They also say that Buhari will fight corruption. I cannot see one member of his party who he would use to prosecute the said corruption war. Remember that in democracy, there is no room for one man to play the headmaster. Are we even sure the man can clearly define corruption as it is practiced today in Nigeria. Yes, corruption is a problem in the country, and that is why the Federal Government has created structures through agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to tackle the scourge. Despite that there are multifaceted challenges which we cannot readily dissect here. Like former EFCC Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu will tell you, when you fight corruption, corruption will fight back. Will Buhari as Head of state have the opportunity to clamp people in 60 or 100 years jail, as he did with military tribunals in 1984? Incidentally, he will not have the grace of working with Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, the man who spiritedly led the war against indiscipline under Buhari. How will a Buhari, who had to force his bank to cough out a N27 million loan to enable him obtain the expression of interest and nomination forms of his party run his campaign? He will surely rely on donations and gifts from governors and members of his party. Recall that some of the Governors who left the PDP in anger late in 2013 to join the APC are those who demanded that President Goodluck Jonathan should stop EFCC from investigating them. It was understood that one of the reasons they left was because Jonathan refused to accede to that request. By Nigerian tradition, appointees at the Federal levels are donated by governors and godfathers. How will those who have shown their resentment to EFCC’s activities nominate their prosecutor for Buhari? We equally need to know how those who will fund APC’s election and constitute the Buhari caucus can stand the corruption searchlight. Beyond the gimmick of posing as an anti-corruption fighter and one who can fix Nigeria, this is the time for Buhari’s publicists to come to reality. As a man who has had opportunity to lead Nigeria before, he should be showcasing his records. It is hypocritical for him to join others to just lament the situation. If he tells us what he did in the past to raise the economy; what he did to stabilize power; how he fought corruption; and built infrastructure, we would be in a position to dissect facts from fiction and juxtapose his records against that of his opponents. We will certainly need the report of a forensic audit of Buhari’s public life. It is not enough to place much premium on someone’s Spartan lifestyle. There remain unanswered questions on the lopsided manner he ran the Petroleum Trust Fund and how at least two North-oriented news organizations emerged from the ashes of the funds. To the people of Lagos, who daily sweat it out in monumental traffic snarls, Buhari also has an unanswered question as to why he cancelled the well intentioned Metro line started by Alhaji Lateef Jakande in Lagos thereby imposing huge foreign debts on Nigeria and Lagos state. That project would have eased the traffic situation we currently face in Lagos and serve as the benchmark of service delivery. ENDS.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 09:19:36 +0000
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