Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has described President
Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for the immediate disengagement of former
Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr
Abdullahi Maina, as an afterthought, saying; “The President only acted
to save his face from the global embarrassment caused him by the
outcry of Nigerians on the news of Maina’s reinstatement.”
Governor Fayose demanded for the immediate arrest and trial of Maina
as well as sack of all those who perpetrated his reinstatement, which
he described as fraudulent and shameful.
In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose, who
likened Buhari’s anti-corruption fight to a situation where “Satan is
calling Judas Iscariot a sinner,” reminded Nigerians that he said
before now that the kind of corruption that will be witnessed in
President Buhari’s government will be unprecedented and that he had
been vindicated.
The governor described the government of President Buhari as
corruption personified, noting that; “If Maina, who was declared
wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation,
(INTERPOL) after he was dismissed from office by the Civil Service
Commission in 2013 for allegedly committing N2.1 Billion pension fraud
while in office, could be secretly reinstated and even promoted
without writing the required civil service promotion examination, no
one should be in doubt any longer that Buhari is not fighting any
corruption.”
Governor Fayose, who described President Buhari and his men as
defenders and protectors of corruption, said; “Even the former
Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, who was accused of corruption by
the Senate, removed from office unceremoniously and declared wanted is
now the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit
(SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos.
He said; “When the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe
Kachikwu raised allegation of award of $25 billion contracts without
following due process against the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Dr. Maikanti Baru, the
Presidency was the one that defended him (Baru).
“Also, President Buhari has refused to act on the report of the
committee that investigated the $43 million discovered in an apartment
at Osbourne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, despite that Nigerians have been
asking him to act on it.
“Even the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu was indicted of
corruption by the Department of State Service (DSS) and all that was
done by President Buhari was to ask the Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to
investigate the DSS report. Up till today, nothing has been heard
about it and Magu, despite his rejection by the Senate, Magu is still
acting as the EFCC chairman.
“It was also under this government of Buhari that Ahmed Gambo Saleh;
the Supreme Court Registrar was indicted and put on trial for alleged
over N2 billion fraud. The case against Gambo Saleh was withdrawn
almost immediately, and he has been appointed the Secretary of the
National Judicial Council (NJC). Not only that, he was made the
Secretary of the Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring
Committee, headed by Retired Justice Isa Ayo Salami .
“In the words of APC Senator, Shehu Sani, ‘when it comes to fighting
corruption in the National Assembly and the Judiciary and in the
larger Nigerian sectors, the President uses insecticide, but when it
comes to fighting corruption within the Presidency, they use
deodorants.’
“Like I have said several times, as far as President Buhari is
concerned, corruption involving his men is family affair, and one
won’t be surprised if Maina is rewarded with bigger office very soon,
just like others before him.”
