Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT), a socio-political pressure group led by Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to extend his anti-corruption probe beyond the Goodluck Jonathan administration down to Olusegun Obasanjo era (1999-2007).
While applauding President Buhari’s ‘zero-tolerance’ anti-graft war and drumming support for the crusade, the Igbo leaders, however, argued that making the probe extensive to cover the era of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Obasanjo will lead to a “change that will endure.”
In a statement signed by its Deputy Secretary, Evangelist Elliot Uko, the group declared that the promise of change in Nigeria where a lot of impunities have been perpetrated for decades inspires hope among the citizenry. But any effort to clean up the mess must be thorough and holistic to achieve intended results. “It is important we thoughtfully appraise the impact of singling out only one regime for probe and prosecution while giving others a clean bill of health. The exercise must not be seen as political and divisive, as the essence and noble goal will be lost. If the change we profess is real, then false starts must be avoided,” it said.
The group raised a number of posers to justify its position that the probe exercise should not be restricted to only the Jonathan regime. “Does that mean that the notorious Siemens and Halliburton bribery scandals have been rested forever? Are we saying that the glaring corrupt cases of 1999-2007 are closed cases? Is it morally right to target only the last regime while exonerating the 1999-2007 sleaze-infested regime? Will the deliberate isolation of the last regime alone for probe not give the impression of a political vendetta? Why is it so compelling to look away and leave out the 1999-2007 era?”, it queried.
By Olisemeka Obeche
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