Second Republic Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, yesterday, doubted the ability and sincerity of President Muhammadu Buhari to confront the endemic problem of corruption in Nigeria and put an end to it.
Musa, who spoke in an exclusive interview with Vanguard Newspaper in his Kaduna home, said President Buhari had already lost the moral right to prosecute the anti-corruption war by restricting the probe of corrupt officials to those in former President Jonathan’s government.
The former governor made it clear that Buhari had shot himself in the foot by deliberately limiting the war to Jonathan’s era, thereby making some highly corrupt persons to escape and carry on as saints. Musa noted that while Buhari and Jonathan were not on the same page when it comes to leadership, Buhari must prove that he is not being surrounded by highly corrupt persons while looking out for those to be prosecuted for graft.
Musa said it was a tragedy to have made Jonathan the president of Nigeria given the fact that he neither had the experience nor the competence to rule Nigeria. He said: “In the first place Jonathan should not have been the president of Nigeria because he lacks both the competence and the experience to run the country successfully. Nigeria is not a place to train on the job because unlike in America where there is a set standard in place, it is the leader who sets the standard in Nigeria.”
While blaming former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the emergence of Jonathan on the leadership saddle of Nigeria despite his leadership shortcomings, Musa said Buhari must prove that he has what it takes to move Nigeria a notch higher. Musa added: “We don’t dispute the fact that Jonathan should not have been made the president of Nigeria at the time he was brought in but the point remains that Buhari must also prove that he is the saint he has portrayed himself to be.
“But my fear is that there are so many corrupt persons around Buhari and in APC and PDP while he has deliberately decided to limit his probe of corrupt persons to only those who served under Jonathan. This is very sad and a clear evidence of selective trial of opponents.”
Musa stated that for Buhari to be taken seriously in the fight against corruption, he must examine and convince himself that he is sincere and ready to conduct a fair trial of corrupt persons irrespective of their party affiliation and status in society. He pointed out that while he would not mention names of corrupt persons, he was convinced that there were many corrupt persons in both APC and PDP who are even more dangerous than former President Jonathan.
He said: “I will advise Buhari to convince himself that he is morally and politically capable to undertake the responsibility of cleaning up Nigeria. I will ask him to constitute a government of national unity involving all the political parties in Nigeria in the task of rebuilding Nigeria.”
