President Muhammadu Buhari is working
to recover N57.2 billion from five serving senators just as the
President is facing intense pressure to turn off searchlight on
chieftains of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) facing
corruption cases, his biographer, Prof. John Paden has said.
The amount to be recovered from each senator was also listed in the book.
The
book, Muhammadu Buhari: The challenges of leadership in Nigeria,
written by Paden, equally revealed that the administration’s ongoing
investigation of alleged dubious international oil transactions by
former minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and
her foreign allies as well as tracking of stolen oil is being hampered
by lack of funds.
The book was launched on Monday, October 3 and has drawn varied reactions from Nigerians over some positions and claims.
Detailing
various efforts being made by the president in the fight against
corruption,Paden said of the nine senators currently facing corruption
cases, five are being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices (and other
related) Corruption (ICPC) for alleged misappropriation of N57.2
billion.
The senators,
according to Buhari’s biographer are: Ahmed Sani Yerima who ruled
Zamfara State between 1999 and 2007 (N1billion); former governor of
Plateau state who recently defected to Buhari’s APC from the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP); Joshua Dariye (N1.2 billion) and ex-governor of
Gombe State and incumbent Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation,
Danjuma Goje (N25 billion).
Others senators are: former governor
of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu (N15 billion) and son of former
governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako), Senator Abdulaziz Nyako (N15
billion).
Although investigation of the senators
was inherited by the administration, the president’s disposition in the
war on corruption has placed more heat on the lawmakers, the author
contended.
According to the book, president Buhari has been going
through enormous pressure to give preferential treatment to APC leaders
fingered in corruption cases but stated that such requests have not
received his blessing.
Paden said: “Importantly, in none of
these cases (apart from certain military procurement scandals that
impacted national security) has the prosecution been sponsored or
encouraged by president Buhari. He has kept his hands off the judiciary,
despite enormous pressure for him to come to the aid of APC allies.”
He further added that, “although
a number of senior officials had been tried for corruption prior to the
Buhari Presidency, the extent of the current corruption court cases in
Nigeria is unprecedented. By February 2016, nine senators (out of 109 in
the National Assembly) were facing criminal charges.”
On the
reason the administration is yet to make desired impact in recovering
petro-monies involving Mrs. Madueke and her foreign allies, the book
claimed that investigation into the deals were being hampered by lack of
funds.
“A major challenge for the Buhari government was how
to track stolen oil…At the heart of the oil bunkering scandals was the
former minister of Petroleum Resources and her associates,” the book alleged .
It stated that “a
general lack of funds appeared to hamper the Nigerian component of the
investigation… In February, a letter by the Presidential Advisory
Committee on Corruption(PACC) to a United Kingdom -based anti corruption
organisation, Global Witness, soliciting assistance in raising funds,
revealed that due to the fall in crude oil prices and the general
economic downturn, government lacked the needed funds to pursue the
recovery of loot”
Culled from SunNewsOnline