by Ezeani Chukwunonso Elvis
The argument that President Goodluck Jonathan is corrupt is flawed on several fronts. Unfortunately, the social media is full of unpatriotic Nigerians sponsored by the APC who have never held any meaningful job in life (because they lack intelligence) struggling to make me believe them when they say our country reeks of corruption. Earlier this week, an acquaintance mischievously inquired to find out from me the whereabouts of Mr. John Yusuf a former official of the Pensions Board who was convicted for leveraging on his post to steal N27B from our treasury. That acquaintance confirmed that the convicted thief was enjoying his loot in company of his friends in Aso Rock. This is the thought of a typical sympathizer of the APC most of whom do not own voters cards.
To this question, I simply replied that “The APC does not know how to use power”. Time did not permit me to offer explanations to him hence I’m seizing this chance to tell him why I think the APC will never fight corruption better that President Goodluck Jonathan. During Joseph Mbu’s time as Police Commissioner in Rivers State, several confrontations occurred between Governor Chibuike Amaechi (Biafra’s first son) and him. Though the leadership of the APC would readily swear Mbu was partisan, I was never bothered because the Chibuike Amaechi seems far from having any of the positive traits the APC want Nigerians to think he has. At the peak of the confrontations, the national leadership of the APC called an emergency session of its federal lawmakers wherein they were ordered to kill any executive bill presented before our parliament by the presidency till C.P. Mbu is deployed out of Rivers State. That singular act caused the presidency to redeploy Mbu to the FCT command, replacing him with stylish Tunde Ogunshakin whom I had met on several occasions at the Special Fraud Unit facility of the Nigeria Police on Milverton Street, Ikoyi where he held sway as Commissioner.
Now, reverse to Mr. John Yusuf the pension thief. Shortly after Justice Talba handed him that largely irrational “pat on the back” sentence, the media gang of the APC swung to work and linked President Goodluck Jonathan to that sentence. As usual, the crux of the matter was left unattended to as all attention was focused on the person of our president with intent of subjecting him to ridicule. Today, that matter is as good as forgotten to the credit of the APC who are never responsible in the manner they approach issues of national importance. As I write, the portion of our laws on which Justice Talba relied to sentence the biggest pension thief in the history of Africa is yet to be altered to make it consistent with modern realities.
If the APC were an honest party that has Nigeria’s interest at heart should their national leadership not have called another emergency session of their members in parliament wherein they will be ordered to raise a point of order and commence an amendment of that part of our law? Should the APC not have ordered its clever-by-half members of our parliament to keep jumping walls till our obsolete anti-corruption laws (where they are noticed) are amended to make them stronger? The answer here is obvious. The APC is fraudulent. By their reckoning, if they facilitate the amendment of our weak anti-corruption laws, they will find no loopholes on which to rely on to loot our treasury if they emerge government at the centre (when Jesus comes). Can the APC sway me by ordering its members to put Nigerian first by amending those laws now as a means of strengthening our anti-corruption agencies since they are of the view that President Jonathan is corruption personified?
Reverse to my senior friend. After sentence was passed on Mr. John “Pensions Thief” Yusuf, he forfeited to the state “2 Units of a three bedroom semi detached bungalows at R2, A and B, Sunny Homes, Dakwo, Abuja, 2 Units of 3 bedroom semi bungalow detached at M24 A and B, Sunny Homes, Dakwo, Abuja, 4 Units of a 3 bedroom semi detached bungalow in Abuja, 8 Units of an estate of 2 bedroom flats at GRA, Gombe, 1 Unit Semi-detached Duplex at House 21, 4th Avenue, Gwarimpa, Abuja, 4 Units of a 3 bedroom semi-detached duplex at Bricks City, Kubwa Road, Abuja and 1 Unit of Semi-Detached Duplex at 14B, Democracy Crescent, Gaduwa, Abuja” amongst other choice properties in Nigeria. This is alongside the freezing and confiscation of monies (legitimately and illegitimately earned) discovered in his personal, corporate and other accounts used in defrauding Nigeria.
President Goodluck Jonathan has been waging a fierce war against corruption. N27B is not such an amount that can be stolen from a system in 4 years. Stealing N27B will require series of coordinated fraudulent mechanisms which when deployed will require a life span of between 4 – 8 years to mature. Any member of the APC who doubts this should inquire from any honest and apolitical player in Nigeria’s financial sector; I can only hope they will be painstaking enough to execute this assignment. That this magnitude of fraud was blown open in the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan is a confirmation of the truth that the war against corruption is going on steadily and fiercely. I remain resolute in my support for His Excellency Goodluck Jonathan.
Ezeani, Chukwunonso Elvis is the South West Zonal Director for Communication, Research & Strategy at the Peoples’ Democratic Party National Youth Frontier. He can be reached via @NonsoEzeani1
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
