Buhari Must Probe Jonathan

Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged winner of the March 28 presidential election and President Goodluck Jonathan will be handing over power to him on May 29. During the campaign periods, APC, who promised Nigerians ‘change’, said they will fight corruption in the country.

However, it appears Buhari has no plans of probing government officials who served before May 29 when he will assume office, including President Goodluck Jonathan.
In this piece Naij.com’s contributor, Chidi Okoye calls on the president-elect to probe Jonathan. According to him, an extensive probe into the finances of the country under Jonathan’s administration must be launched.
Opinion Highlight:

* Jonathan needs to be probed.
* Buhari needs to break the jinx.
* Buhari must not ignore the large sums spent on his campaign.
* Buhari must not disappoint Nigerians

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has left me slightly confused. From campaign statements saying that no government official that served before May 29 when he will assume office, including President Goodluck Jonathan, will be probed in his much touted anti-corruption campaign, he has turned around to vow that his administration will probe the alleged $20 billion missing crude revenue. I hope the old man has not become senile.

I also hope that his earlier statements were part of a Machiavellian strategy to garner the needed support to win elections; because the fact remains that any campaign against corruption that does not target people being speculated to have looted public funds prior to May 29 is doomed for failure. Buhari would need to break this jinx we have in Nigeria where no president has ever probed his predecessor. Despite the staggering amounts recovered from foreign bank accounts of late former military dictator, Sani Abacha, our country is yet to carry out an extensive probe of his regime and his family has continued to live in opulence with streets named after their patriarch.

We cannot continue like this. The recently released forensic report conducted by PwC on the alleged $20 billion should serve as the spring board for a wide reaching probe of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. The report does not confirm that this figure is missing, but it does expose massive underhand dealings in our very opaque oil industry. Buhari would need to probe and expose any ties the beneficiaries may have had with the president. Having served as the pioneer head of the oil regulatory body, he has the advantage of a bit of insider knowledge.

Furthermore, an extensive probe into the finances of the country under President Goodluck Jonathan must be launched. We have seen allegations of obscene amounts spent during his campaign. We would need the incoming Buhari administration to follow the money trail and tell us if there was any pilfering of our public wealth. We have seen the president embroiled in a recent land acquisition controversy in Abuja. Buhari would need to look into that matter and show whether there was any wrongdoing in the process and that the said land was acquired by money within the budget of President Goodluck Jonathan’s earnings.

And while we are at it, Buhari must not ignore the equally obscene amounts spent on his campaign. There have been allegations that former Governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos State, a key sponsor of his campaign and party, corruptly enriched himself with public funds. We need clarity on this and the various sources of the billions that the APC spent on their impressive campaign. Such close allies as Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Senator Bukola Saraki have various allegations around their necks, they too must be probed.

Buhari must start at the top; because only then would he have the moral right to effectively clean house. While he is at it, all former presidents and heads of state must also pass through this scrutiny. Only then will he be able to beam his searchlight elsewhere and begin to actualise a thorough cleansing of the system. This will greatly impact on the numerous socialist initiatives that formed part of his campaign promises. Faced with dwindling oil revenue, Nigeria needs all the money it can get; and recovering the estimated billions of dollars stolen from the commonwealth will greatly help.

Anything less than this would mean that we have voted an illusion of change. It would mean that business would continue as usual. It would mean that a person like Arthur Eze, notoriously rich and a financier of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will continue to visit Buhari and make his cheques available to the All Progressives Congress (APC) when it takes over government. It would mean that Nigeria would continue to bleed heavily due to the several bites that corruption has taken at it. It would mean that we really cannot move forward as a nation.

Millions of Nigerians voted for Buhari because of his perceived tough anti-corruption stance and because they believe that he is our last chance at having a real go at the malaise. He must not disappoint them. President Goodluck Jonathan has made the job easy for him by recently stating that he is open to a probe and will remain in the country after he leaves office. If Buhari spends the first year of his administration exposing the corrupt dealings of past leaders, Nigerians, I am sure, would forgive him for any sector that may be neglected as a result.

The day we have a former president or head of state prosecuted and jailed for corrupt enrichment while in office, that is the day that real change will come to Nigeria. If this does not happen under the Buhari administration, it is unlikely to ever come to pass. And Nigeria will be poorer for it.