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Former Bayelsa State Official Sent Protest Letter To President Buhari Over “Selective” Nature Of Anti-Corruption Campaign

October 20, 2015

Yesterday Richard Kpodo, the former Security Adviser to the Bayelsa State government, sent a protest letter entitled “Why Faces Behind Timipre Sylva's Shield from Prosecution by the EFCC Should be Uncovered” to President Muhammadu Buhari over the selective approach to his anti-corruption war.

Yesterday Richard Kpodo, the former Security Adviser to the Bayelsa State government, sent a protest letter entitled “Why Faces Behind Timipre Sylva's Shield from Prosecution by the EFCC Should be Uncovered” to President Muhammadu Buhari over the selective approach to his anti-corruption war.  

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In the letter Mr. Kpodo acknowledged that President Buhari’s anti-corruption posture has redefined the approach of governance by elected and appointed office holders.  However, he noted that loyalists within the APC viewed President Buhari’s anti-graft stance to be tainted by the “biased” nature of the anti-corruption campaign.

In the second portion of his protest letter, which he read in Yenagoa, Mr. Kpodo expressed worry over the decision to declare Timipre Sylva the APC candidate for the Bayelsa State governorship because of the corruption charges leveled against him.    

He stated that while Mr. Sylva was walking free, Senator Godswill Akpabio and former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam have been detained and grilled for hours by the EFCC and former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, is facing the heat in far away United Kingdom.

Mr. Kpodo, who was Mr. Sylva's special adviser on security matters, reminded President Buhari that the former Governor was arrested by EFCC operatives from a dingy corner where he hid himself in his Abuja residence.

He further reminded President Buhari that on January 3rd 2013, the anti-graft agency took possession of 48 properties illegally acquired by Mr. Sylva with public funds following an interim forfeiture order granted by Justice A.R Muhammed on December 28th, 2012.

Mr. Kpodo said, "change, which is our slogan, has become a sign of worry to our party faithful in Bayelsa and beyond. To add more to our worry, we read of the position presented by some people identified as the voice of the South-South on alleged lopsided nature of the ongoing anti-corruption crusade.”

He noted that Mr. Sylva was charged with 50 counts of misappropriation of roughly N19.2 billion in State funds, yet he continues to represent the APC.

The APC stalwart insisted that the current battle against corrupt elements across the nation must be total and fair.

He therefore urged President Buhari to ensure that Mr. Sylva was brought to justice for alleged corrupt practices while he was Governor of Bayelsa.