Six days to the general
elections, President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday raised the alarm that corrupt
politicians could use their loot to undermine Saturday’s elections.
Buhari, in an op-ed he personally
wrote, justified his administration’s anti-corruption war.
However, the Peoples Democratic
Party said the President’s declaration was a sign that he was afraid of a
looming defeat in the February 16 presidential election.
The President, however, said that
corrupt people had humongous resources at their disposal to engage in
vote-buying and undermine the polls.
Writing on the title, “Corruption
threatens Nigeria – and its election,” he stated, “The battle against graft
must be the base on which we secure the country, build our economy, provide
decent infrastructure and educate the next generation.
“This is the challenge of our
generation: the variable on which our success as a nation shall be determined.
But the vested interests at play can make this fight difficult. By way of their
looting, the corrupt have powerful resources at their disposal. And they will
use them. For when you fight corruption, you can be sure it will fight back.
“It even threatens to undermine
the February 16 poll and – by extension – our democracy. The Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission has raised concerns over laundered money being
funnelled into vote-buying.
“This is the problem of
corruption. It illustrates how it lurks in all and every crevice of public
life, manipulating due process in pursuit of self-preservation and
perpetuation; protecting personal, political and economic interests at the
expense of the common good.”
Buhari said as President he had
tried to judiciously exercise the trust vested in him to combat corruption,
insecurity and an inequitable economy.
He added, “But amongst them, one
stands above the others as both are a cause and aggravator of the rest. It is,
of course, corruption.
“A policy programme that does not
have fighting corruption at its core is destined to fail. The battle against
graft must be the base on which we secure the country, build our economy,
provide decent infrastructure and educate the next generation.”
‘Our critics were against our mission to stop corruption’
Buhari argued that those who were
against his administration did so because they knew his mission was to stop
corruption.
He noted, “Indeed, those who have
criticised my administration’s anti-corruption drive are those who oppose its
mission. And though their lawyers may craft expensive alibis, they cannot
escape that which binds them together: a raft of documents and barely legal
(some clearly illegal) mechanisms – whether that be the Panama Papers, the US
Congress reports, shell companies or offshore bank accounts.
“Corruption corrodes the trust on
which the idea of community is founded, because one rule for the few and
another for everyone else is unacceptable to anyone working honestly.”
On the challenges his
anti-corruption war faced, he wrote, “But as we have intensified our war on
corruption, so we have found that corruption innovates to resist the law. This
is not the sole domain of those Nigerians, but the international corruption
industry: the unsavoury fellow-traveller of globalisation.
“Once the enablers are let in –
as they have been in the past – the greed of those they collude with grows. We
have closed the door on them, but unfortunately there still remain individuals
who are willing to open the windows.”
Nonetheless, the President said
he would not give up but rather build on his achievements.
“Concrete progress has been made,
but there is still much to do. We have repatriated hundreds of millions of
dollars stashed away in foreign banks. These funds have been transparently
deployed on infrastructural projects and used to directly empower the poorest
in society. More is still to come from our international partners in France,
the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
“We have secured high profile
convictions, but greater cases remain. Lawyers table endless objections to
obstruct court proceedings, whilst their clients hope it lasts until a
‘friendly’ President is voted into office. We must continue to tighten the
legal framework and ensure the authorities have the investigative powers at
their disposal to secure sentences. Only then will we begin to neutralise the
advantages the corrupt have.
“More ghost workers must be
removed from government payroll (almost $550m has been saved from identifying
phantom employees). More can be recovered through our whistle-blower policy
($370m has been returned since its inauguration in 2016). More is still to
come. But, together, we shall prevail over corruption.
“A Yoruba proverb states that
only the patient one can milk a lion. Likewise, victory over corruption is
difficult, but not impossible. We must not flounder in our resolve. I know many
Nigerians would like to see faster action. So do I. But so too must we follow
due process and exercise restraint, ensuring allegation never takes the place
of evidence. For that is not the Nigeria we should wish to build.
“There is no doubt that this
administration has changed the way we tackle corruption. The choice before
voters is this: Do we continue forward on this testing path against corruption?
Or do revert to the past, resigned to the falsehood that it is just the way
things are done? Or that it is just too difficult – too pervasive – to fix? I
know which one I would choose. It is why I am asking Nigerians for another four
years to serve them.”
Panicky Buhari looking for excuses, says PDP
But the PDP has alleged that
President Buhari is looking for excuses to enable him to postpone the
elections.
It said there were many indices
to show that the President was panicking that he would lose the election.
The National Chairman of the PDP,
Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke with one of our correspondents while reacting
to the President’s essay, said Nigerians “are now tired of the same
uncoordinated songs coming from their President for almost four years.”
He said by now, the President and
his team must have allegedly seen the handwriting on the wall that “their days
are over.”
Secondus said, “The President and
the APC are aware that their days in government are numbered. They know that
they can no longer deceive the people. Enough of lies and propaganda! They are
looking for excuses for their impending defeat and also postpone the elections.
“This is the reason why the President that did
not have time to visit the people is now talking about corruption. Is there any
government that has ever been as corrupt as the Buhari Presidency?
“This is a government of deceit.
They have found out that there are no more lies to tell Nigerians that could
make them fall to these set of liars anymore. We will get Nigerian working
again.”
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