Lamido
Former governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war as ‘noise.’ He said it’s unthinkable that the EFCC discovered huge monies (nearly N15 billion) in a flat (Osborne Towers) in Lagos but could not track the real owner. “Who leaked the story? Who did the source say is the owner of the fund?”
Mr.Lamido, who was reacting to the recent discovery of huge amount of money in the Ikoyi apartment , told the BBC Hausa Service on Wednesday that President Buhari is not a saint because he was “equally corrupt when he served under the late Head of State Sani Abacha.”
Buhari had served as chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), established by Abacha in 1994 to provide critical infrastructure across the country.
“He (Buhari) worked under Abacha; in fact he was the closest to the late military ruler and when it comes to corruption, everybody knows where Abacha’s government stands,” Lamido said.
“Buhari is just making noise; there’s no iota of truth in the so-called commitment to the improvement of security and halting graft in the country”, he added.
Lamido wondered why the anti-graft agency was yet to trace the real owner of the Osborne Towers money.
“No reasonable person will believe that there is no safe for the NIA (which claimed ownership) to keep its money but a private residence in Lagos; those in position of authority should always have the courage to tell the led the truth because leadership is sacred.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Buhari has asked a presidential panel headed by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo to probe the ownership of money in a country with competent law enforcement agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, which is statutorily well equipped to combat financial crimes.
By appointing a presidential panel to investigate the matter, it invariably means that Buhari has passed a vote of no confidence on those agencies, including the EFCC, whose chairman, Ibrahim Magu the president has steadfastly retained as chairman despite his rejection by the Nigerian senate on grounds of negative security reports.
CHECKPOINTCHARLEY 