Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Mathew Hassan-Kukah has said the ongoing fight against corruption is not what the country yearns for at this time when the basic governance issues and challenges were yet to be overcome.
He said there is no end in sight in the investigation against corrupt officers, since corruption does to only stop at stealing, but involves other day-to-day actions of individuals.
Kukah had in August flayed the Buhari administration in the fight against treasury looters, where he said Nigeria has other critical issues of governance to deal with other than spending long period in the fight against corruption.
His comment however drew a lot of reactions from Nigerians, with many criticizing the Bishop of shielding friends, while others said he was simply not comfortable with the investigation.
But during an interview with BBC Hausa monitored at the weekend, the bishop said he was misunderstood by Nigerians and that there is the need for the federal government to stabilise the country first, instead of embarking on the long journey of investigation.
“What I said was that, I didn’t say that corrupt officials shouldn’t be probed, but I said, we should put it in mind that the nation was yet to be on track and now look at what is happening in the Igbo area, when we do not finish with OPC, militants and others.
“I said this journey is a long one and I said we have to remember that we are no longer in military era, this is democracy, where there are rules, lawyers and other things.
“If you listen to what the president is dishing out it like he pleading with lawyers for is help. Because when you discover someone who stole $1 billion, he can hire a lawyer that Nigeria cannot hire. But people reacted to what I said and this is the beauty of democracy. Everybody has freedom of speech,” he said.
He said lack of basic amenities in a country is enough to breed other social vices, pointing out that it is more imperative to focus on the provision of basic services than in probes.
“You know Buhari, people are talking about body language. Everybody has understood where we are heading, but the time we reach remains unknown. We have to all understand the present situation; corruption is not just stealing money.
“I am not saying we shouldn’t wage this war, but you can’t be silent of the whereabouts of your troops in a war. But people went and said we don’t want the fight against corruption because we are accomplice,” he said.
On the insurgency in the country, Kukah said actions and unfulfilled promises of northern politicians provided safe haven for the emergency of Boko Haram.
