*Cites Obono Obla, Senator Goje as 'untouchables'
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL) has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for demonstrating favouritism, insincerity in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
The anti-graft body stated that the law against corruption must be seen to be "absolutely effective" against all known violators, no matter how highly placed the culprits are.
This is where, CACOL pointed, the Buhari regime's current fight against corruption should be reviewed towards "better effectiveness" to make any tangible impact.
Comparing Buhari's government to previous administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan, CACOL said: “The fight against official heist under the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has been just the same way of its predecessors since 1999 in terms of scope and width of operations and too discriminatory to achieve the ultimate goal of dissuading our office holders from their seeming pathological attachment to corruptive acts.
"This is without any prejudice to the courage and greater resolve so far shown by this government in tackling the menace like the Single Treasury Account (TSA), Whistleblower policy, etc., which are no doubt, very bold and unprecedented steps towards stemming the tide of corruption.”
It added, “However, good these measures sound, they amount to little or nothing if in prosecuting this historical fight, some government officials are still seen to be ‘untouchables’.
"The likes of Obono Obla, erstwhile Chairman of the Special Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property, who was alleged to have falsified his West African Secondary School Leaving Certificate, WASSCE, and Danjuma Goje, former governor of Gombe state who was under trial for multiple looting of his state but was asked to step down from contesting for the seat of Senate President as a ‘swap’ for official pardon for looting his state dry.
"It is our firm belief that corruption finds a safe haven under such discriminatory and selective atmosphere. This is why we have always advocated that for the fight against corruption to make desired impact and achieve our collective aim, the two main anti-graft agencies, the ICPC and EFCC must be completely insulated and divorced from any official control and manipulations, latent or crystal clear. Anything short of this could only be tantamount to psychedelic hibernation, no matter how well-intentioned the government seems to be.”