So, the man cried. This man cried. Like the cries of the ordinary Nigerians, his was also heard worldwide. Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu himself. The Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate. An unabashed ally of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. A staunch member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He cried. The tears flowed profusely. But the tears couldn’t have flowed more orderly. Obviously being denied the opportunity to become the president of the Senate based on allegations of corruption, it was finally a moment of truth.
Tinubu and corruption? A pot calling kettle black? Selective fight on corruption Level 3? So, the man cried. Orji Kalu. Then Akpabio, another billionaire politician. Enter Emefiele and Dangote. Seyi Tinubu and the London mansion. Barely two weeks in the job. Buhari Level II. Vendetta Phase III. The Igbo irony. A looming crisis…
So, the man cried. This man cried. Like the cries of the ordinary Nigerians, his was also heard worldwide. Mr. Orji Uzor Kalu himself. The Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate. An unabashed ally of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. A staunch member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He cried. The tears flowed profusely. But the tears couldn’t have flowed more orderly. Obviously being denied the opportunity to become the president of the Senate based on allegations of corruption, it was finally a moment of truth.
The truth is the maxim that justice delayed is justice denied. It also goes without saying that the oppressor could one day become the oppressed. It played out that Orji Kalu’s billionaire party men who cannot even explain the source of their huge wealth still have the audacity to call Kalu a thief. But this saga is a pint in the ocean compared to what follows below.
Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who was installed president barely two weeks earlier, suspended and arrested the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Ifanyichukwu Emefiele, on charges of corruption. The charges are wide, including $1 billion transaction allegedly with Aliko Dangote, as an accessory. Yes, the Africa’s richest man!
It is necessary to state here that I remain a zero-corruption advocate, but I also pride myself as an epitome of equity, justice, and fairness. Therefore, this piece is not intended to condone corrupt practices in any shape or form. The main gist is that “one who comes into equity must come with clean hands.”
We are talking about Tinubu himself, the most corrupt politician ever to seek the Nigerian presidency. As the current presiding officer of the nation’s corrupt oligarchy, a select group of billionaire politicians without legitimate sources if income, Tinubu cannot in clear conscience attempt to fight corruption. That is precisely why his ally, Orji Kalu, cried. This is precisely why a vast majority of Nigerians who voted in the presidential election of 2023 rejected the former Lagos governor.
Tinubu should look in the mirror and lead by example. The point is that he should take a leave from the presidency and equally subject himself to the authorities until he comes clean with a plethora of allegations leveled against him around the globe. The allegations, of course, border on his shady background, including fake state of origin, fake date of birth, fake school certificates, massive corruption, drug peddling, election terrorism, and much more.
These piles of corrupt practices explain why the then Chairman of Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu clearly stated that Tinubu is “a looter of international dimensions.”
Critics are bound to fire back here. They will argue, as usual, that Mr. Tinubu has not been found guilty.
But I have bad news for them. First of all, it is a common knowledge that Tinubu was indicted on drug trafficking in the United States of America. It is also written in black and white that the man cannot explain the sources of his overflowing wealth, as his fellow party member alluded. Moreover, neither Godwin Ifanyichukwu Emefiele nor Orji Uzo Kalu has been found guilty in court of law. Yet, they are being singled out and victimized.
Even worse, though the EFCC is currently investigating Godswill Akpabio for an alleged theft of N108.1 billion of Akwa Ibom State funds, he remains Tinubu’s preferred candidate for the office of the president of the Senate. Despite the fact that Dangote is fingered as an accomplice in the Emefiele corruption saga, no attempt has been made to question the Africa’s richest man, let alone arresting him.
Further, the world continues to wait for the moment the wobbling weakling would demand any investigation or the arrest of his son, Seyi Tinubu, who was busted for conniving with a fugitive, Mr. Kolawole Akanni Aluko, to buy $11 million London mansion, a property purchased with the proceeds of crime.
This selective fight on corruption by Tinubu is a clear testament that he is doing nothing to allay the fears that is bound to become worse than his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who thrived in primitive vendetta politics that combined to ground his regime.
The trending optics thus far is another version of vendetta against the Igbo. The irony this time is that a vast majority of the Igbo people aligned with the youths and progressive Nigerians to make it clear that a corrupt kingpin cum drug lord would not be their president. Besides, the former CBN Governor initiated the new currency policy that made it difficult for corrupt politicians, like Tinubu, to influence the presidential election with tainted money.
A crisis looms but it is not coming as a surprise. …The fight on corruption in Nigeria was buried the day Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed the presidency. A solution, therefore, is for Nigerians to explore the most urgent ways to remove the black-market president from office—either through the electoral tribunal or by impeachment.
By SKC Ogbonnia, a former APC presidential aspirant, writes from Abuja.