Buhari is a wrong choice as Nigerian leader – Ayo Adebanjo

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

Now talking about the 2.1 billion dollars arms deal, and the money be­ing shared by some peo­ple in what has come to be known as Dasukigate, how do you feel about it?

I believe that this is where the media should help inform Nigeri­ans about what is really happen­ing and not by sensationalizing the news. Is this the first time political party is helping another one to win election? It is political alliance, and this is how it is done in other parts of the world. These people – Olu Falae, Ladoja, and others got this money from their political ally, which is PDP, and even APC the ruling party, didn’t they receive money from some people during the election time? Did the party (APC) ask those that gave them money the source of the money given to them? I’m not supporting corruption, but there are some money spent dur­ing election and campaigning that you can’t start asking question about the source of the money given to you to campaign. Take the case of Falae, he got money from Anenih, how would he know that the money being given to him is taken from the arms money? We should not mix issues.

And the EFCC has asked these people to refund the monies.

It is not right for the EFCC to say so. As far as I’m concerned, these people have not commit­ted any crime. EFCC is not the court, let these men be taken to court, and we should all wait for the court’s pronouncement on the issue. I’m not in any way supporting corruption, but what I’m saying is that it is wrong to accuse these people of taking money from the arms deal money because nobody, including Da­suki, has come out to tell us that he told these people that he was giving them all these money from the arms fund. Even, there is no way Falae and others would have asked for the source of money being given to them in an elec­tion period. My own take on this is that the Federal Government should follow the rule of law, due process must be followed.

Buhari should be careful in his war against corruption. He should not be seen to be playing to the gallery. Where real looting of the national resources is involved, Buhari should not spare anybody, but on this issue of security fund being shared to politicians, I have my reservations.

We should not take the issue too far. Even if we care to re­member, is it not from the same fund that Dasuki took money to buy two jeeps for Buhari? When Dasuki made the revelation, Bu­hari’s apologists and defenders quickly came to his rescue by saying that buying the jeeps for Buhari was his normal entitle­ment, but they dodged the moral aspect of the money being taken from the arms fund to buy the jeeps. I hope Nigerians can read between the lines.

From the arms fund, some poli­ticians were given money to cam­paign during an election and that, to the government, was an offence and from the same arms fund, money was taken to buy jeeps for another individual and that, to government was not an offence. I believe we should not be seen to be living in George Orwell’s Ani­mal Farm, where some animals are more equal than others.

It is very unfair to start criticiz­ing Falae and others now. Their trial by the media is unfortu­nate. Most media organisations are now making fortunes out of publishing stories on Falae and others, but it is unfair. Let these people be taken to court, and let court determine their fates. Bu­hari should not give the impres­sion that his opponents are being persecuted under the guise of waging war against corruption.

Should former President Goodluck Jonathan be invited for questioning over this arms fund scan­dal because Dasuki and others linked to the scan­dal have been mention­ing his name?

Jonathan can be invited, there is no limit to anybody that can be questioned but EFCC should be careful in whatever action it takes. For instance, you invite somebody for questioning on is­sues relating to corruption and corrupt practices, and at the end of the day, you discover that the person is innocent, although you have asked the person to go, the damage has already been done as you have maligned that person for ever.

If they are inviting Jonathan, no problem; he can be invited, but doing so will be setting a dangerous precedent. You only know the beginning of an ac­tion; you never know where it will end. I’m not defending or supporting Jonathan, but EFCC must be very careful on Jona­than’s invitation. His invitation may open a pandora box, which may eventually lead to the in­dictment or questioning of some others that were in his position before or are even there now. As the saying goes, you don’t throw stones when you know that you live in a glass house.

Again, this is the first time, to the best of my knowledge, that questions will be raised on how money relating to security is used. Buhari was there before as Head of State. Did anybody raise questions, or asked him how se­curity funds were disbursed dur­ing his tenure? As I said earlier, this is the first time people are probing security fund; it is a dan­gerous precedent.

Now again, Buhari is making a mistake, as all his attention is directed against corruption. But does that put food on the table of an average Nigerian? There are other sectors like education, health and infrastructure that re­quire his attention are not receiv­ing due attention now.

The impression APC gave us was that it has direction and fo­cus on policy for every sector, while campaigning for power. But now that their party is in power, what have they done?

It appears as it APC doesn’t have a roadmap for solving or confronting various challenges. Having a roadmap will help APC to have a focus and that is why some people have accused Bu­hari of running an inconclusive government.

But on a personal note sir, do you believe in President Buhari’s ability to tackle the myriad of woes confronting Nigeria?

I believe he has the capac­ity to solve the problems, but the problem with Buhari is that he is not sincere. He is not truly committed to change. The best solution or what I will call pana­cea for Nigeria’s problem, is the implementation of the National Conference recommendations. The confab recommendations provides natural solution to series of problems confronting Nigeria, but you must remember that from day one, Buhari and APC leaders have vowed not to have anything to do with the confab set up by Jonathan’s government. But are Buhari and his co-travellers in APC genuine patriots? No. They are not. If they were, they would support any document that will move Nigeria forward. The con­fab is not about Jonathan; it is about Nigeria.

Buhari and APC want the status quo to remain because the present federal arrangement is lopsided in favour of the North. But let me quickly add here that we are only postponing the evil day if we fail to implement those con­fab recommendations, because they address a lot of flaws that are inherent in our present federal structure. Looking at renewed agitations for Sovereign State of Biafra and pockets of other crises here and there, they may snowball into bigger conflagration that may threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria.

A word, they say, is enough for the wise. Nigerians should ask Buhari and APC leaders why they don’t want to implement the confab’s recommendations. As the saying goes, those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. Buhari, on a personal note, is a good man, but is a wrong choice as Nigerian leader. He has not dis­guised his preference for a section of the country, which is the North, and it is not in the best interest of the country.

On a parting note, let me quickly add that former President Goodluck Jonathan is a good man that has good intentions, but he was surrounded by many evil and corrupt people. He could have performed, and one of the good things I believe he did was the National Conference he organ­ised. History will remember him for this. However, it is unfortu­nate that Buhari and APC leaders are bent on dumping its report and recommendations.

It was alleged that some months ahead of 2015 presiden­tial election, that you and some Afenifere leaders were ‘settled’ by former President Goodluck Jonathan, and that was why you campaigned against Presi­dent Muhammadu Buhari, how far is it true?

That is why I have always been saying that media men should do more of investigative journalism. Shouldn’t the media have con­ducted their own independent in­vestigations? I challenge anybody that has any evidence linking me or any of the Afenifere leaders collecting money or being settled in any form by Jonathan, to come out with evidence.

I campaigned against Buhari because of his anti-democratic traits. I like him as a person, and I have nothing personal against him. My disagreement with Bu­hari is on the basis of principle. He was a dictator, when he was Military Head of State and even as a civilian president now, he has been exhibiting that trait of disdain for the rule of law. A leop­ard can’t change its spots. Buhari has not shown any sign of readi­ness to abandon dictatorship, and as long as he remains a dictator, I can’t admire him and that’s why I didn’t vote for him and I have no regret for doing that.