Former
President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan has hit at President Muhammadu Buhari’s style
of fighting corruption, particularly deploring the de-marketing of Nigeria and
Nigerians at international fora by branding
citizens of the country as corrupt .
Jonathan also
said those accusing him of corruption are more corrupt and are manipulating the
media.
The former
president’s views are contained in a book titled ‘Against the Run of Play’,
written by Segun Adeniyi. The book will be formally presented to the public
tomorrow.
Describing the
style of going to international fora to label Nigerians corrupt as unhelpful,
Jonathan said he could have adopted such style because it meant ridiculing the
country before the international community .
The sun news reported, that President
buhari had, shortly after inauguration, attended a forum in London where he
agreed to the assertion by then British Prime Minister that “Nigeria is
fantastically corrupt.” He made similar comments that painted Nigeria as
acorrupt nation in other international fora.
Jonathan said
in the book:
“I would not
go outside the country and say Nigerians are the most corrupt people because
not only is that unhelpful, I am also indicting myself.
Dismissing
allegations that he presided a government that was deep in corruption, the
former president fired back at his accusers as the real corrupt elements.
He said “By
virtue of being President of Nigeria, I have come to know so many things about
so many people,” he said.
“Some of the
most corrupt Nigerians are the ones who speak most loudly about corruption.
Once you have access to the media in Nigeria, you have the liberty to accuse
others of corruption regardless of what you are doing.”
He continued
“I have been told that I should have made scapegoats of some officials so I
would be seen to be fighting corruption, but that, for me, is not right. When I
get reports about corruption , I usually subject them to investigations.
“You know
Stella Oduah played a prominent role in my campaign in 2011. But when the
investigation I ordered was carried out and the indictment was confirmed , I
had to relieve her of her position.” He said he applied the same measure on
Prof Barth Nnaji, then Minister of Power who he said had conflict of interests.
He continued:
“Up till today, Stella hates me for her removal . No doubt, it was a very had
decision for me to take because i seeing her as a friend as I take all the
people who work for me , but that was what leadership demanded. That was what
was important to me.
“Take the oil
industry, we commissioned a report which I believe this administration is
using. It deals with under valuation of the crude oil and gas being declared
between what was lifted and what was discharged by the vessels. It was a
comprehensive report that dealt with the issue of oil theft in Nigeria and how
much we lost as a result”.
His style of
fighting corruption is different from mine, and since most Nigerians apparently
prefer his style, it is okay. There are steps you take that will help in
retrieving ill-gotten wealth and punish offenders while restoring confidence in
the system . But there are also things you can do to damage the system”, he
said.
On the
allegations of corruption against the former minister of Petroleum Resources,
Mrs Diezani Allison Madueke, Jonathan said “look at what we did when the
allegations became strident. We established four committees to investigate
different aspects of the oil and gas sectors, including the one headed by Nuhu
Ribadu . If I had anything to hide, would I do that?
On the
allegation by former President that he, Jonathan, never took the war on Boko
Haram seriously, he said Obasanjo was also unable to resolve the crisis in the
Niger Delta.
He said: “I
recall that immediately he won the election in 1999, before he was even sworn
in, Obasanjo had visited the Niger Delta to hold meetings . Meanwhile the first
time I would be meeting Asari Dokubo, Ateke Tom and other militants was years
later in Aso Rock at a meeting Obasanjo called to find a solution to the
problem at a period I was the deputy governor in Bayelsa . Despite all those
efforts , Obasanjo failed to resolve the problem until the late Yar’Adua came
with the Amnesty Programme. Should we hold Obasanjo accountable for the Niger
Delta problem?”
Meanwhile, the Presidency has distanced
President Muhammadu Buhari from allegations made by former President Goodluck
Jonathan, that his administration was harassing his family.
It said rather
President Buhari was only allowing the law to take its course
The presidency
was reacting to a national daily’s publication entitled: BUHARI’S GOVT
HARASSING MY FAMILY, SAYS JONATHAN.
The allegation
is contained in a new book, “Against The Run of Play”, written by the Chairman
of ThisDay Editorial Board, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi.
Jonathan was
also quoted as disagreeing with Buhari’s
style in fighting corruption.
The Special
Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement
said, “We make bold to state, unequivocally, that President Buhari harasses
nobody; he merely allows the law to take its course. For the umpteenth time, we
say that anybody without skeleton in his or her cupboard, has nothing to fear
about the bared fangs of the anti-corruption initiative.
“Fear belongs
only to those who have abused trust while in office. Anybody who feels
aggrieved is free to approach the courts to seek redress or justice. President
Buhari believes in the rule of law and that is why his campaign against
corruption is anchored on that plank”, Adesina said.
The
presidential spokesman added, “With regard to President Buhari’s anti-graft
style, which the former president deprecates, given the scale of revelations
and recoveries so far by the anti-corruption agencies, it is obvious that
corruption had an uninhibited course during our recent past. In any case, time
will give the verdict on whose style of fighting corruption ultimately yielded
the most dividends.
“For now,
President Buhari is resolute and single-minded in the fact that his crusade
against graft is not targeted at any individual or group. He firmly believes
that national interest must always be placed above personal interest, no matter
who is involved”, he said.
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