The Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Committee on Peaceful Election, on Wednesday, counselled the Federal Government against too much talk about the promised probe of the looters of the nation’s treasury under whatever guise in the last administration.
The committee, which visited the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, in Abuja, on Wednesday, said this became necessary “so as not to get distracted from the core business of governance on the account of probe.”
Speaking with newsmen after a closed door meeting between members of the committee and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Dogara, spokesperson of the committee, Bishop Hassan Kukah, declared that “although official corruption has set the nation backwards, it is also necessary that Nigerians including those in power, do not get distracted from the core mandate of governance and the contributions of former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.”
According to him, “there is no such thing as probe in a democratic setting like ours. What obtains is investigation.
“However, in doing that, we must never be distracted from the spectacular actions undertaken by former president, Jonathan. He is an individual. I think this whole thing about probe can be ascertained once investigations are concluded. But we are saying that a lot of talks and speculations about this probe are distractions nobody needs.
“So, the most important thing is that we need a stable country first, before we can talk about these things. And they will have happened down the line,” he counselled.
Speaking on whether all was well between the Executive and Legislature arms of government, given the succession of the committee’s visit to both the Presidency and the National Assembly, he explained that things were not the way they ought to be in the polity.
According to the Catholic Bishop, “everybody knows that things are not the way they ought to be now. We are just trying to encourage people to let’s get on with this business of fixing this country. Let’s get to the business of realising the change that we dreamt of. And also most importantly, let’s get down with the business of co-operating with God so that Nigeria can move forward.
“I think that is what ordinary Nigerians are expecting; this is what they voted for. The truth of the matter is that time is not on our side. Our responsibility is to encourage politicians to do what they were elected to do,” he declared.
Kukah pointed out that the visit of the committee, led by its chairman, General Abdulsalami, was in conclusion of its consultations with all the stakeholders aimed at getting a feel from them about what they feel concerning the National Peace Committee and its role.
“We are set up to deal with the issues of the national elections and we have successfully concluded. And the consultation are to help us redefine the role of the committee, in order to sustain our democracy,” he declared.
On Channels Television, today Kukah warned that the public lynching of indicting the Jonathan’s led government should not be encouraged, those who stole should be prosecuted in the right channels.
