“Let them go and roast in whatever stew they are cooking for themselves”- Bakare
Last Friday, Saharareporters broke the story of an attempt by President Goodluck Jonathan to bribe a visiting delegation of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) with $50,000.
“Let them go and roast in whatever stew they are cooking for themselves”- Bakare
Last Friday, Saharareporters broke the story of an attempt by President Goodluck Jonathan to bribe a visiting delegation of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) with $50,000.
That story has been controversial since then, following a whimpering denial of the attempt by Tony Uranta, a muscle in Mr. Jonathan's inner circle, and a story in an online journal which gave the impression the convener of the SNG, Pastor Tunde Bakare, did not consider the money to have been a bribe.
In order to provide authentication of our story Saharareporters hereby publishes an audio of two telephone interviews with Bakare, upon which part of our stories were based. The interviews were conducted on November 28 and 30, and the pastor confirms the bribe attempt and the accuracy of our reporting of the issue.
Bakare, known as much for his religious work as for his political activism, had confirmed on Sunday evening that the Minister of the Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe offered the SNG delegation the sum of $50,000 on behalf of President Jonathan. The funds were returned through Uranta shortly after it was presented to the SNG delegation.
Referring to Orubebe, Bakare is heard on the tape saying, “…I wish him well because he neither said he didn’t give us money or we didn’t return money, he just said he did not offer bribe; and he began to give me definition of bribe, unfortunately he did not go to law school but he is trying to lecture a lawyer.”
Jonathan’s attempt to bribe the SNG is a reminder of last October’s allegation by Global Information System, a private think tank of retired U.S. military strategists, of Jonathan’s ongoing “corruption of the Nigerian political process.” The think tank reported that Jonathan was buying up delegates to the forthcoming PDP primaries for $13,000 (two million Naira) per vote.
That, however, is not the public face of Jonathan. In a speech read for him in Jos by Vice President Namadi Sambo last Saturday, Mr. Jonathan called on Nigerians to ignore politicians who seek to win elections by offering money to groups and individuals.