President Muhammadu Buhari while in the United States vowed that his government would not spare any member of the All Progressives Congress as well as associates found culpable of corruption.
Buhari who gave this pledged during his just concluded four-day visit to the United States President, Barack Obama, said this during an interview with the CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour.
“If any of my associates or party member is indicted of corruption, they cannot escape justice. There is not going to be any APC member or any close personality found guilty that would escape justice,” he said.
Interestingly, it was Amanpour who pushed him to say that in her interaction on her program. But not a few believed the President simply because they know that corruption is a hallmark of the political class in Nigeria hence APC members cannot be saints.
But no fewer he returned to the country than his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina said his principal is only interested in probing only the Jonathan administration.
He reportedly said Buhari will not waste time in probing the administrations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalam Abubakar, Sani Abacha and Ibrahim Babangida.
He argued that even before he was sworn in to office on May 29, the president had categorically stated that he would not extend his corruption probe beyond the Jonathan government.
“If you recall, that was already settled before he got inaugurated as president. He has said he will not waste time digging into the far past,” Mr. Adesina said.
“The far past will includes Obasanjo and others. But the president has said he will not waste time to go that far.”
But probing only Jonathan means sparing the corrupt APC chieftains, a contradiction of what he promised to do in that CNN interview.
Already the PDP are not unaware of the plot to decimate the party against future election using probe and the party has cried out through its spokesman, Olisa Metuh while speaking in Lokoja, the capital city of Kogi state.
He accused Buhari of harassing the PDP members and condemned the approach as uncivilise.
Hear him: “We are being treated as if we are prisoners of war. We are being treated as if we are refugees. We are not afraid, we have faith in our strength and unity; faith in the peace, unity and progress of Nigeria.
“We (PDP) are not afraid of the intimidation, harassment and arrest of our members by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, if the arrest is done within the confines of the law.”
The Publicity Secretary, who said the party’s stands against corruption has remained unwavering, however, lamented the witch-hunt of its members by the Buhari-led administration under the pretext of a probe.
“We condemn the uncivilised method of arrest, intimidation and the denial of the fundamental human rights of members of our party who served in the last administration by the Buhari led administration.
“If the ruling party believes that there is any one who has served in the federal government and is guilty of corrupt practices, they are free within the law to investigate as long as they go through due process and observe the rule of law.”
The APC government has even begun using the EFCC to pursue the Senate President, Bukola Saraki in its bid to push him out of the office after it has failed to use the party supremacy to kick him and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu out.
"If the trend continues, the populace would have no chioce but to conclude that the APC is worse than the PDP it had painted evil while it was in the opposition. We are not aware of any APC chieftain who became a victim of anti-graft under the watch of President Goodluck Jonathan," a PDP chieftain who does not want his name in print said.
According to him, "Buhari has not changed, that was how he used the state power to haunt politicians from the South whom he arraigned before his kangarooic panels and jailed them several hundred of years before Babangida cam and set them free."
Jonathan had said any probe by the new government would be seen as a “witch hunt” unless it goes beyond his administration.
The issue is very clear, to probe the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo is akin to setting his roof on fire because he know what Obasanjo could do in fighting back.
Political pundits believe that if the probe goes beyond the Jonathan administration, his party members would not be happy with him and it could be the beginning of the end.
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