Former Governor of Sokoto State and Garkuwan Sokoto, Alhaji (Dr.) Attahiru Bafawara has descended heavily on President Muhammadu Buhari on the anti-corruption stance of his administration.
The former Governor, in an open letter to President Buhari, a copy of which was made available to Economic Confidential in Abuja, stated that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) under his watch has continued to be selective in their investigations as only the opposition are perceived as criminals while others, including All Progressive Party(APC) members are ignored.
Tackling the President from all cylinders, Dr. Bafarawa said “ as it is now, Mr. President would be surprised to hear that there are hundreds, if not thousands of petitions before the EFCC against some members of your party, the APC, but sadly enough, they can neither be investigated nor arrested probably because they are sacred cows, or because they have a way of forcing the organization to look for other preys instead”.
Blowing hot on the President’s beleaguered campaign against corruption, Bafarawa further said “it is not fair at all that you allow an organization (EFCC) under your watch to continue to be selective by perceiving people mainly from the opposition as criminals while others are ignored as if they are free from petitions written against them for years!”.
Hear him: “ It is therefore curious that not a single known individual from APC is either arrested by the EFCC or is even known to be under any serious investigation. One wonders how many former PDP men and women who have held various key positions and who are now in the APC have been taken to the law courts by the EFCC.”
He noted that the question on the “lips of many Nigerians is: Are all these crimes committed only by those who remained in the PDP? Another question is: Is the APC , as the ruling party shopping for new converts in order to shield them from arrest or investigation?
He called on the President to urgently restructure and reposition the anti-graft agency as it is presently constituted, if any meaningful progress has to be made, stating that the current government inherited an anti-graft body that has no compass!
“You should remember that in spite of your zeal and commitment towards fighting crimes/corruption, there is nothing you have so far added to the Commission in terms of operational or structural repositioning. Nothing!”, Bafarawa said, stressing that everything he met about the EFCC is as established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Drawing a sharp contrast between him and Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Bafarawa said “ even Obasanjo who some people accused of establishing the organization as a tool of witch-hunt against his known and perceived enemies , had cause to pounce on many people suspected to commit crimes regardless of tribe or political party affiliation.
He also told Buhari that “ so many known ruling party chieftains suspected of fraud were arrested and so many governors from the PDP were investigated and thereafter arrested.
He therefore called on President Buhari to have the large heart to accept criticism, no matter how bitter, adding that “different shades of opinion would rather give Nigerians a sense of belonging which is the hallmark of participatory democracy”.
