By Ustaz Yerima Bello
Zamfara State Governor and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, AbdulAzizYari has drawn the battle line and unmasked the governorship front in the Buhari Administration’s no-nonsense corruption-clearing mission with his arrogant talk down of the Paris Club looting scandal currently polluting their excellences.
At the height of public outrage over the governors’ red-handed rustling of billions of naira from the N388 billion London-Paris Club refunds specifically approved for release by President Buhari to ensure the settlement of pension and salaries of long-suffering retired and unpaid civil servants, Governor Yari was reported to have “dared” the EFCC to probe and come out with its result. Obviously the governor’s careless response is informed by the vexatious immunity clause shielding governors from prosecution which is now widely regarded as a license to loot.
This submission is therefore an equally rude reminder to Governor Yari and his co-suspects, particularly his northern colleagues that the masses have never associated them with the stainless stature of President Buhari and there is no surprise that the anti-corruption crusade has caught up with them.
In fact, the governors won their elections riding on the momentous Buhari tsunami and not any personal qualification, so it would be politically correct if they are also cut to size for powering corruption to fight back and sabotaging the President’s hardship-alleviating initiatives.
If truth be told, the governors’ alleged involvement in such high-level hijack of public funds while masquerading as “supporters” of the war against corruption as Governor Yari implies that President Buhari is all alone in the war against corruption.
It should be recalled that the London-Paris Club refunds were initiated in the Obasanjo era but deliberately forwarded by successive governments. Out of his empathy over the plight of pensioners and civil servants, President Buhari insisted on providing significant relief, notwithstanding the severe squeeze on government earnings, by making settlement of outstanding pension and salary payments a condition for release of the London-Paris Club refunds.
President Buhari had earlier approved release of “bailout funds” running into billions for the states to pay outstanding workers salaries and pensions. Most of the states misused the money on frivolous foreign trips leaving behind helpless pensioners and workers dying in misery. This time around they looked for smart solution of clinical theft: two former Obasanjo’s boys experienced in “deals” introduced the idea of consultancy for a transaction with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the CBN.
A prominent title holder from Sokoto was hired who exploited the culture of corruption in the CBN and the federal legislature to launch a pre-emptive strike at the EFCC which President Buhari had instructed to unravel the super-scam. They earned more than 4 billion naira! I pity Buhari.
At this juncture, Nigerians must appreciate the unprecedented scale of exposure and indictment of especially the high-brow pen robbers whose decades of plundering public funds has crippled the national economy with devastating impact on the impoverished lives of Nigerians. The singular commitment of President Buhari to destabilize and dethrone the “corruptocracy” that infested the ranks of the ruling elite and thrived in the corridors of power is now an unstoppable wind of decimation and deterrence against the entrenched enemies within such as the latest gang of greedy governors. Strengthened by policies like the innovative whistle-blowers incentive we can confidently declare that, like Boko Haram, Nigeria under President Buhari has substantially won the war against corruption.
However, President Buhari should be further emboldened by the groundswell of public endorsement across Nigeria for his crusade to bring the on-going investigation into the London-Paris Club scandal to a thorough and timely conclusion with or without Ibrahim Magu so that Nigerians can also “dare” the two North West governors and a North central senator. They must face the law or face the music of mobs that will also be waiting for them in their states to refund the loot! There will be no immunity against mob justice.
Nigerians must now also understand the difficult circumstances under which President Buhari is fulfilling his life ambition of fighting corruption in other words fighting for the liberation of Nigeria from the powerful parasitic cabal converting national prosperity into private minority wealth. The more the powers of corruption are punctured, the more national prosperity thrives for majority of Nigerians and the more fervent mass prayers are needed not only for Mr. President’s good health but also for divine protection from the enemies within helping corruption to fight back.
Ustaz Bello wrote from Cairo, Egypt
