My Fear for Nuhu Ribadu By Abdallah Mailafia Shaibu The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is in the eye of the storm for his dual role in the fight against corruption by the Obasanjo administration. Obasanjo is not believed to be sincere in his war against corruption. This has sometimes put Nuhu Ribadu between the Devil and the Red Sea. State’s institutions are being used to witch-hunt perceived enemies. There are ample of proofs to support this assertion, but this does not come within the ambit of this discussion.
Nuhu Ribadu
who would not pause at the slightest opportunity to label other people
as corrupt, has not been able to see any trace of corruption in
President Obasanjo or his close associates. In fact, he defends Obasanjo
on allegation of corruption whenever he has the chance to do so. On one
occasion that I can not remember vividly, Ribadu stated in very clear
terms that President Obasanjo is not corrupt. It is difficult to accept
Nuhu’s verdict on Obasanjo since he has not investigated him. Even if he
has, the verdict would still be prone to contention because Nuhu and his
Commission can not be an impartial umpire.
President
Obasanjo is bundled with series of corruption charges that he has not
reasonably defended. His agent, i.e. Nuhu Ribadu should throw more light
on these issues to exonerate Obasanjo. Some of the recurring allegations
against Obasanjo are, among others, the following. Who owns Ajaokuta
Steel Mills, Jos Steel Rolling Mills, Delta Steel Complex and National
Iron Ore Mining Company Itakpe? Who bought out the shares of Akeem
Bello-Osagie thereby becoming the largest shareholder in United Bank for
Africa? Who was the largest shareholder in Zenith Bank and First
Interstate Bank before the merger into Unity Bank? Who is the owner of
Obanaja Cement factory?
Who owns
majority shares in Virgin Nigeria? Why does the airline enjoy special
facilities at the international wing of our airports at a pittance? Why
does Virgin Nigeria not pay both parking and landing fees and at the
same time purchase aviation fuel at a discount? Who are the true owners
of Arik Air? Why was the bidding for the assets of the comatose Nigeria
Airways not transparent?
Who are the
true owners of Transcorp? What is President Obasanjo’s level of
commitment in the multi-national corporation? Why was NITEL given to
Transcorp at the sum of $750 million when Globacom bidded $1.2 billion
for the same property? What about Eleme Petrochemicals and Osogbo
Machine Tools?
What is the
source of fund used to rehabilitate Obasanjo’s farm that now rake in N30
million per month when the farm has been lying fallow prior to the 1999
election that brought in Obasanjo as President? What is the source of
funds for his farm investments in the six states of the Federation? How
did Obasanjo acquire the Beach Land Estate in Lagos?
Is it ethical
for a sitting President to launch his library pet project cajoling
government contractors and government parastatals to donate into the
fund?
What deal
does President Obasanjo have with the owners of Mittal of India that led
to the hurried manner in which Oil Block 246 was granted to the Indian
conglomerate?
Since Nuhu
Ribadu has been holding briefs for the President, he can as well provide
answers to the afore-mentioned questions to clear his principal’s name
from allegations of corruption.
According to
Nuhu Ribadu, he is not only hated by corrupt Nigerians which his
Commission purports to fight but also by his kinsmen. He eluded to this
fact in the recent interview he, along with Nasir el-Rufai, granted
The Nation newspaper. We all know that there is no hiding place for
a golden fish. The minimum expectation is that since Ribadu is hated by
everyone even by his own kinsmen, he should find succor in Obasanjo on
whose back he rides to unleash terror on innocent citizens. That is the
crux of the matter, and it forms the basis of my fear for Nuhu Ribadu.
President
Obasanjo is well known for his use-and-dump-attitude. He can sacrifice
anyone at the slightest chance no matter how valuable that person had
been to him. T Y Danjma, Tafa Balogun, Fola Adeola, Otunba Fasawe,
Sunday Awoniyi, Solomon Lar, Atiku Abubakar, Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, Marc
Wabara, Late Sunday Afolabi etc were all in the good books of Mr.
President at one time. If after using Ribadu, Obasanjo drops him as he
did to the afore-mentioned, Ribadu should count himself the luckiest
person on planet earth.
My
premonition is that Ribadu, in the course of his duty, might have
stumbled on some damaging materials on Baba and in his naivety informs
Oga on how best to quash it. If this ever happens, then Ribadu’s matter
is closed. He has known too much about a man who is not prepared to
trust anyone. He is just living on borrowed time.
To compound
the whole matter, no one will ever suspect Baba if Ribadu drops dead.
The likely suspects will be the 419ners, State Governors and other
politicians because of the obstacles he has created for these people.
Vice President Atiku may even be a suspect because of the PTDF saga. Let
me quickly add here the Atiku Abubakar, Turakin Adamawa, is a
true democrat who would not hurt a fly to realize his political
ambitions. His antecedents will speak for him.
However, Baba
is a retired general who has fought wars in many fronts. The life of a
useless cop does not mean much to him. His antecedents will buttress
this assertion. The late Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bola
Ige was murdered in the heat of his misunderstanding with Omisore.
Nigerians were made to believe that Omisore was responsible. Chief Funso
Williams was assassinated and again we were made to hold politicians
responsible. Grapevine has it that as Chairman of NPA, Williams stumbled
on some facts which were enough reason to get him eliminated. Also,
Chief Ige would have constituted a nuisance in the 2003 presidential
election if he were to be alive. The fact of the matter is that Ribadu
is trading with professionals who know when to strike so that they won’t
be suspects. A word is enough for the wise.
Not quite
long ago, an alarm was raised that plans are being hatched by Atiku
loyalists to eliminate some aides of the President. Ribadu’s name was
not on the target list. Something keeps on telling me that the ground is
being prepared to actualize a heinous act by the same group raising the
alarm.
As the saying
goes, ‘he who rides on the back of a tiger eventually ends up in the
belly of the tiger’.
Alh
Abdallah Mailafia Shaibu
Lafia,
Nasarawa State
|