Every Nigerian who wonders why Buhari's "anti-corruption"
government is turning out to be one of the most brazenly corrupt governments in
Nigeria's history should read this incredibly insightful interview by Junaid
Mohmmed in Punch Newspaper. Snippets:
You claimed to have been a friend to President Buhari since
he was a rising officer in the army, do you have to come to the open to criticize
him instead of doing that privately?
There is a little story about this. I had occasion to speak about
this issue about two or three times. Yes, the man has been my friend and I
remember in 1998, I saw Buhari, he was then Chairman of the Petroleum Trust
Fund and he asked me to see him in Abuja from Kano which is about 450-500
kilometres.
Upon my
arrival, I was lodged at the then NICON NOGA Hotel, the next morning, I joined
him in the office at Asokoro over tea. After we had discussed other matters, I
gave him the information I had about some dirty business going on in the
Finance Department of the PTF. I mentioned names, I gave him details. And I
told him, ‘Don’t trust me because I understand there are some people you
normally trust, out of these beneficiaries, get some of them to investigate.’
Then we parted company and I returned to Kano.
Three
and a half months later, Buhari himself called me over the telephone and said,
‘Mallam doctor, can we see?’ I said yes. The next day, I went to Abuja and
found that a hotel accommodation had been booked for me by one Sali Hidjo who
ran the African Projects Consortium, the main consultants to the PTF. The next
day, I went to his (Buhari’s ) office, the first question he asked me
was, ‘Mallam doctor, what is your source of information?’ I told him I
was not going to let him know my source of information because if I don’t keep
my sources private, then I am finished as a public person. He kept quiet for a
while; then he smiled and told me that everything I told him turned out to be
correct.
In
fact, he said there were certain facts that I didn’t get but which he found
out. He said he commissioned some people with accounting backgrounds and some
officers of the SSS and gave them the freedom to recruit others to do a
forensic audit of the records and the team submitted a report to him. They
found that everything I said was the truth and he thanked me.
Then I
asked him, ‘Sir, General, what do you intend to do with these people since the
head of the Mafia - he used the word, not me - was a man who was a director of
finance in the PTF was the elder brother of a friend of his, a former
military governor. Buhari said he and the former governor, now late, were
friends. He said he (Buhari) he and the former governor had come a long way,
that they joined the armed forces around the same time, though in the Air
Force.
He said
they started soldering around the same time, they had been moving around
together around the same stations, that they were made (military) governors and
sworn in the same day when Murtala (Muhammed) appointed them governors. He was
appointed the governor of the North East and his friend was appointed governor
of North Central State and they remained close until the man’s sudden death. It
was his brother who was the mastermind of this fraud perpetrated under Buhari.
And I said, “General, what are you going to do with these people?’ He said he
summoned the culprit and scolded him bla, bla, blah.
He said
he also summoned the entire staff of the finance department and addressed them.
I asked him, “Is that all?’ I think he realised that I was not satisfied; he
said there was nothing he could do. I said it is not your personal money; it is
the money belonging to the Nigerian patrimony, money belonging to all of us. If
they have been found to have abused public trust, they should be taken to court
and dealt with appropriately. If for whatever reason technical or otherwise,
they are found not guilty, they should be allowed to go free but in this
situation, you cannot pretend as if nothing has happened.
The way
and manner you have handled this matter, I assure you no matter the explanation
you will want to give about your personal relationships will not suffice.’ I
was not satisfied; Buhari was not satisfied with my position. I stood up, we
shook hands, he walked me to the lift, I entered the lift, then my car and left
for Kano. So, when he started messing up this time around, a reporter
whom I have known for over 40 years who is also from that state and has lived
in Kaduna with Buhari asked me on live television why I decided to go public
with Buhari- he volunteered the information to me that Buhari was aware I was
going to grant the interview and in fact, would be watching the television
station at that time.
Then I
said, this was what happened and I decided I was not going to go to him. I said
the experience I had with him was unpleasant and I found the standards I
expected of him were not the standards he maintained when he became
President. The people who asked me the question are very much around; one is
Mr. Toyin Alabi, the General Manager of Liberty Radio and Television. The man
who did the Hausa version was a man from a famous family in Zaria, Mamman
Baba-Ahmed. You can verify from them.
I believe that one, if you are in a position
of public trust, it is a challenge; I don’t relate to people who don’t take the
truth I tell them and I am not prepared to be associated with a leader who
believes that his personal interest can override that of the public. I believe
Nigeria is greater than all of us, including the President and if any of my
friends believes their personal interests and that of their dubious cronies are
greater than the collective interest of Nigeria, we will part ways.
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