Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari’s threats to probe governance affairs of his predecessors has tumbled into a boomeranging breadth, prompting the General to personally send a plea with apologies to the former President and one of the targets of his proposed probe, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, International Guardian reliably gathered. “I didn’t personally know what was said or written, but to my understanding, PMB was only trying to diffuse rumors in the media about Obasanjo being a target of his probe,” a source close to Buhari’s administration explained in a text message.
Chief Obasanjo was already gathering a dossier which included documents linking President Buhari and key allies and colleagues in his administration to major fraud related to various affairs of the government, when he received President Buhari’s “es·prit de corps” plea for a common understanding and restraint. To further appease the aged former leader, President Buhari quickly announced a retraction of his threats, announcing publicly that he would not extend his corruption probe beyond the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
A worried President Buhari specifically indicated through his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Femi Adesina, that he would not waste time in probing the administrations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalam Abubakar, Sani Abacha, and Ibrahim Babangida. The retraction nonetheless created doubts among critics on the president’s credibility in fighting corruption as he initially swaggered.
President Buhari, it may be recalled, had consistently vowed to investigate and bring to book, all persons who looted the country’s funds. Consequently, he made a threat to arrest and prosecute past ministers and other officials who stole Nigeria’s oil and diverted government’s money to personal accounts.
The President’s request for collaboration with the United States, however, prompted an alleged reaction by President Obasanjo considered as one of Nigeria’s most corrupt past leader by most western countries. The United States has indicated it would help Nigeria’s new leader track down billions of dollars in stolen assets – a move that might expose previous fraudulent engagements in the Obasanjo’s regime.
Atiku was implicated by a US Grand Jury which report detailed his fraudulent involvement with Congressman, William Jefferson to secure a business deal in Nigeria. Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years on November 13, 2009, the longest sentence ever handed down to a congressman for bribery. crumbly economy.
International Guardian gathered that President Buhari’s backtrack from his initial plans for a comprehensive probe of public-fund misappropriation may jeopardize Nigeria’s request to the United States for collaboration on tracing missing funds. The United States government it was gathered, may not oblige to selective investigation of executive fraudsters and may not spare Buhari himself. It may be recalled that as the Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was implicated by a US Grand Jury which reports detailed his fraudulent involvement with Congressman, William Jefferson to secure a business deal in Nigeria. On August 5, 2009, Jefferson was found guilty of 11 of the 16 corruption counts, and was sentenced to 13 years on November 13, 2009, the longest sentence ever handed down to a congressman for bribery.
From fraudulent privatization of state-owned enterprises; filthy oil deals; bribery associated with Halliburton, Siemens, and Transcorp, rushed terminal contracts, to personal loans for his farm business, embezzlement of Excess Crude Account, and Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), Chief Obasanjo’s regime has been considered the most fraudulent in Nigeria’s history. “For Buhari to claim that he would not waste time digging into the far past, simply signals a red flag about his involvement in the whole thing,” confided a source close to Washington.
Last week, International Guardian reported how President Obasanjo was the only one to rightly expose President Buhari’s negative past records of public accountability, revealing his readiness to hit the blogs with documents that would shock the nation. The story also narrated how Buhari as the chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) between 1998-99, failed to account for a missing 25 billion naira, confiscating all related documents and obstructing all investigative channels. Buhari’s alleged plea to Obasanjo, therefore, was timely. “When it comes to being vindictive, you know Baba does not waste time and Buhari should have known better,” a source close to the All Progressives Congress (APC) told our newsroom.
Leave a Reply