By Dr Bolaji O. Akinyemi

Existentially, it has become our duty to respond and change the narrative Muhammadu Buhari, All Progressives Party (APC), and the Presidency are creating in the public space about corruption.

A person and Party that rode on our collective desire as a people to see corruption crushed have become an embarrassment to human intelligence. What, with the kid gloves approach to the hydra headed monster of corruption that is destroying our nation!

Muhammadu Buhari and his Party were spitting fire and brimstone about corruption during the campaigns leading up to the 2015 general elections. Nigerians were excited and expected nothing less than a sulphuric judgement against looters and their activities.

The War Against Indiscipline, WAI, which aligned our body to discipline but left our mind to indiscipline at his first coming as Head of State readily prepared us for the onslaught.

Hell was going to be unleashed on looters under our stern looking totalitarian General. He will sweep the nation clean from all forms of indiscipline. So we thought. How wrong we were. Unfortunately!

Now nepotism and bigotry have come to play alongside corruption. Looters aren’t looters anymore because they looted. Now they are segregated by tribe, religion and political affiliations.

As a private citizen before he was elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, General Muhammadu Buhari, had the right to his opinion. But once elected, he ceased to enjoy that right.

In the handling of persons accused of corruption, inequality remains the greatest undoing of this administration. Buhari’s ideology is in conflict with the spirit of our constitutional democracy, and he has allowed this conflict to drive the soul of his administration and its policies.

The President had consistently maintained that Sani Abacha never stole a kobo, though he was the Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, a major drainpipe of the Abacha led Government.

Unfortunately, we have consistently witnessed the absurd in the attitude of this government in the fight against corruption. How myopic to have elected him to come and clean the Augean stable!

From the politicization of corruption and the sanctification of looters, to the announcement to Nigerians by their chief priest who offered looters a safe haven asking them to bring their loot, receive Buhari as their President, Tinubu as their Party leader and himself as the chief priest, and then all their sins though red as crimson shall have been made white as snow, we are daily regaled to the theatre of the absurd.

Even the desecration of the Biblical phrase and the sacrilege committed by APC was enough to cause tempers to rise for a revolt, with everyone who believes the Bible screaming blasphemy, but like an hypnotised nation, Buhari and his party got away with it.

A thief is a thief irrespective of party affiliation, religion or tribe and must be seen and treated as such. APC must not be allowed to chase PDP thieves on the streets while they open the back door for their own thieves to escape. All looters without shame hiding under the mischievous handling of corruption must be exposed for who they are.

Persons seeking elective office and yet hobnobbing with our thieves and calling them heroes for whatever reason shall not be spared. All thieves are equal in their thievery and that must be established and empirically chronicled for history to keep.

This is the goal of “Looters Equality: My Thief, Your Thief, Our Thief,” which shall debut on Friday 29th May 2020 beginning with the profile of General Sani Abacha and the loot of a nation.

Every Friday, thereafter, we shall profile fraud cases at SFU, EFCC, and ICPC, of those in particular which seem to have been abandoned with the aim of resurrecting them and urging relevant agencies to act while discouraging the public and the incoming generation from celebrating the thieves as our chiefs.

Perspective shall also be given to everyone who seemed to have been rewarded one way or another either with ministerial appointment or membership of one board or the other, etc., whilst trying to sweep their misdemeanor under the carpet or to make us forget.

Governors, Ministers, Heads of government agencies, Permanent Secretaries, Directors, and everyone occupying positions of authority for which probity is demanded but is shrieked, one way or another, shall come under our searchlight.

Already, we have over a hundred high profile fraud cases in our library and we have the reach for many more. The column promises to be first class readers delight.

We welcome any information on fraud in Government, Ministries, Department and Agencies, etc.
None disclosure of our sources can never be compromised. That we assure you.

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