Can Ribadu Arrest Obasanjo

Can Ribadu Arrest Obasanjo?

A. Mohammed Bashir Shuwa

Leeds, U.K.

A retreat was recently organized by the PDP for those who are contesting elections under its platform during which various personalities presented papers. Among them is the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. Though I have no idea of the content of his presentation one important question that I would have asked him is can he arrest and prosecute Olusegun Obasanjo if he receives allegations of corrupt enrichment and abuse of office against him? This is one key question that Ribadu and all presidential candidates must tell Nigerians since even though several allegations have been made against the person of the president he has not been prosecuted maybe because of his current immunity, control of security apparatus and financial resources all of which may have contributed in shielding him but what if after he leaves power?

Nigerians are aware that several allegations have been made against President Obasanjo who is said to have used his office to corruptly enrich himself by stealing billions of Nigeria's money directly and by proxy. He has been accused of allocating oil wells and lifting of crude oil to his business associates who are fronting for him. In the same vein he is accused of using his fronts to deal in the procurement and supply of capital intensive supplies for Nigeria's armed forces and the petroleum sector. Some example are the PTDF scam, two hundred million shares in Transcorp, allocation of oil wells to his cronies and mismanagement of billions of dollars during his seven years of dictatorship. Similarly his son like Abatcha's were involved in business deals secured by using their father's influence and within the period of his coming to power they have acquired properties beyond what their income would afford in the US. Andy and Chris Uba are some of those alleged to be fronting for OBJ along with many others. In fact it emerged that Chris Uba has not only been using his closeness with OBJ to secure lucrative contracts for security printing such as ballot papers for INEC but it is also suspected that he prints Nigeria's mints for Central Bank in the UK. One of the companies engaged in the printing of security prints is the Leeds based Scientific Games Corporation a company that deals in high tech printing in the UK. Donations made to OBJ'S presidential library is also one unethical conduct.

With the myriad of high scale corruption perpetrated at the presidential level it is absurd for this administration to accord to itself a high moral ground which we all know it has not got. It is therefore necessary for us to clearly identify the ills of the OBJ government and expose their corrupt practices so that Nigerians can know them for what they are. In the same toga it is incumbent on all well meaning Nigerians to come to the rescue of the country from the grips of the ruling cabal in the PDP who have been milking the nation dry to the detriment of the majority who live in abject poverty. Despite the astronomical rise in revenue OBJ has not improved on the lives of ordinary Nigerians and failed to provide basic amenities that will impact on the lives of Nigerians and so the question is where has all the money gone? Is it only invested in EFCC and paying debts? Talking about paying debts who are those that negotiated and earned commissions from the debt repayments or are we as Nigerians not entitled to know the process at which transactions are made on our behalf?

Since EFCC was able to recover the Abatcha loot we are also expecting that it would recover the OBJ loot soon after he vacates power. Otherwise all the hoolabaloo about fighting corruption can be viewed as a mere facade aimed at discrediting and fighting the enemies of OBJ. It is on record that numerous abuses have been documented and passed through the national assembly in respect of the allegations against OBJ which were only shelved to prevent the nascent democracy according to the law makers but the question is shall we allow him to get away with all the crimes he has committed?

One reason that OBJ wants to hand over to a stooge like Yar Adua is the obvious fact that he has been a control freak who disparately wants Nigerians to have a President that will front for him and do his bidding. That is why various illegal ways and methods are being perfected to pass the baton of power to his chosen successor who he would want to win the election at all cost.

It is evident that what OBJ is after is his own safety and personal preservation and the hog wash about the continuation of his reform is utter nonsense since most Nigerians would prefer to have a change because his reforms has failed to impact on their lives and only succeeded in bringing misery and poverty amid the huge resources the country earned during his eight wasted years in power.

For Nigeria to have a proper grasp of the mess the country has been put into by OBJ there is the need for a revolution which the fourth coming election has provided us with and the people must rise to the challenge and stand up to change the system so they can have a better tomorrow else they will continue to be led by a cabal that only allocate and share the nations resources among themselves while the citizens live in abject poverty.

As the saying goes a stitch in time saves nine the time for Nigerians to make a break from the past is now since the nation prepares to go to the polls and an opportunity has been provided to get rid of the PDP and its legacy of corruption,manipulation and maladministration.