 EMINENT
Nigerians and groups were unanimous, yesterday, in their support for
President Muhammadu Buhari’s vow to probe the immediate past Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration.
They were, however, divided
over the scope, time-frame and those to be probed. While some wanted the
probe to be limited to the Jonathan administration, some countered that
it should be extended to all past governments. There were also calls
that the probe should be extensive, thorough, transparent and devoid of
witch-hunt.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, weekend, President Buhari, who said he met a
near empty treasury on assumption of office, restated his decision to
probe the Jonathan’s government to recover the billions of dollars that
have not been accounted for.
Last week, the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC) asked President Buhari to probe the
immediate past administration over the $5.5bn dividends said to have
been paid to the Federal Government by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas
Limited. It also wanted taxes and dividends accruable to the Jonathan
administration through the NLNG in the last six years unearthed.
When
the issue of probe was first mentioned late May, Dr. Jonathan urged
President Buhari not to focus only on his administration, saying it
would amount to a witch-hunt if only his administration was probed. He
had said, “I think in Nigeria, there are a lot of things that will be
probed, very many things, even debts owed by states and debts owed by
this country from 1960 up to this time. They say it is Jonathan’s
administration that owed these debts… I believe that anybody that is
coming for probe must also ensure that this probe is extended beyond the
Jonathan administration. Otherwise, to me, it will be witch-hunt. If we
are very sincere, it is not only the Jonathan administration that
should be probed.”
It’s an attempt to recover our stolen wealth—Sagay
Throwing
his weight behind the move, Constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse
Sagay, SAN, said the planned probe is an avenue to recover the nation’s
stolen wealth from those who pilfered the country’s treasury.
Sagay
said: “The way I see it is this: the Buhari administration met a
virtually empty treasury. The treasury has been looted in various
guises, the NNPC has been a source of massive looting. As far as I am
concerned, I will not call what he is doing as probing of any
administration, it is an attempt to recover Nigeria’s stolen wealth so
that the administration can work. I truly support it.
“In the
process of trying to recover the stolen money, if he has to probe any
government, present or past, let him probe, but the money has to be
recovered. People should not come into government and now suffer from
some sort of amnesia and think that state funds belong to them
personally while the country is living in pains and poverty as we are
now. Salaries cannot be paid in so many states, so Buhari is right in
his struggle to recover our stolen wealth.”
Presidency should probe, but no witch- hunt – PDP
The
national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said,
yesterday, that the Presidency was free to probe past administrations
but warned that the exercise must not be carried out with malice,
designed to witch-hunt some persons who worked under Dr. Jonathan.
Speaking
withVanguard, PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said
the investigation must be within the ambit of the law and respect for
fundamental human rights of citizens, adding that a government must plan
for the future and not necessarily spending its energy looking into the
past.
According to Metuh, the current government should allow
some persons carry out the investigation while it concentrates on
providing services to the people especially in the area of addressing
the security challenge in some parts of the country. Metuh said: “It is
the right thing to probe and investigate but there must be respect for
fundamental human rights of the people. It must be carried out within
the confines of the law, there must be no witch-hunt. There must be
plans for the future, the government can go ahead with the probe, but
must put forward those things that will move the country forward because
very soon, Nigerians will be asking questions on insecurity, incessant
arrest, the state of the dollar, among others.”
Probe should be transparent and not to witch-hunt —Ajulo, LP scribe
In
his reaction, National Secretary of the Labour Party, LP, Dr. Kayode
Ajulo, urged the president to be transparent in his anti-corruption
crusade.
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Ajulo,
who said it was imperative for the president not to embark on a
personal vendetta said: “Buhari, on the day he was inaugurated, swore to
two oaths and his primary responsibility is to follow the laws of the
country and to do justice to all without fear or favour. What I say is
this, if a crime has been committed, such crimes should be investigated
but there should be no vendetta. He should not witch-hunt, he should not
be vindictive about the probe.”
He added: “I can understand that the
war against corruption has started, he should be transparent about it.
What are you trying people for? What is their offence? Their offence has
to be known because this is democracy. They should also follow the law
in their corruption war.”
Probe should be all inclusive —Shettima, Arewa Youths
On
his part, National President of the Arewa Youths Consultative, Alhaji
Yerima Usman Shettima, argued that the probe should be all inclusive and
not limited to the past PDP administration.
His words: “Nobody is
opposed to probing anybody that is found wanting but the probe should
not be lopsided. We are all aware that if Buhari wants to probe, he will
be totally committed. The probe should not be a witch-hunt, it must be
all inclusive. There are some people, who are close to him, they should
also be probed, it should be a fight against corruption and not a
selected few.”
Buhari is a disappointment—- Ogundipe, South-West PDP leader
The
South-West Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Makanjunola
Ogundipe, expressed disappointment over the president’s decision to
single out the Jonathan administration for probe.
Ogundipe said:
“Buhari is really disappointing everybody. Having been declared winner
of the last presidential elections, Nigerians had expected him to swing
into action to better their lot. If the only thing Buhari wants to do is
to probe everybody, then he should not limit the probe to Jonathan. He
should go back to when he too was head of state, he should probe
everybody around him, that is when we would know he is working. As it it
is now, we see it as a witch-hunt. Nigerians are expecting better
performance from his administration but from what we see, we are
disappointed. That is not the way he should go.”
I support the probe— Mohammed
In
his reaction, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed, said it
will be unrealistic for President Buhari not to probe the Jonathan
administration. According to him, President Buhari has since realised
that without probing the past government he might not be able to move
the country forward. “During the electioneering campaigns, Buhari said
he will not probe past governments but now that he has seen the quantum
of money that was looted by several ministers and former aides of
Jonathan, he has no option than change his attitude and stance on the
probe.
“He has since realized he could not do anything without money
and when revelations of the billions they stole started filtering in,
there is no way he will not probe especially when some states were owing
eight to 11months salary. I support President Buhari on the probe 100
percent and I am glad he has turned down borrowing money instead he is
ensuring people that stole this country dry are returning it,” he said.
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