Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Tuesday
blamed President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged heavily lopsided top level
appointments allotted to Muslim northerners as the fundamental and
underlying reason for the massive disunity and divisions that exist
amongst the diverse ethno-religious communities in Nigeria since 2015.
HURIWA said the Buhari’s administration created an atmospheric
circumstance which planted seeds of discord that has fully germinated
and evolved into a near hydra headed monster threatening to tear down
the walls of unity which has held Nigeria since October 1st 1960 as an
Independent political sovereign nation together.
In a statement jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade
Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab
Yusuf, HURIWA urged Buhari to urgently end the season of naked hypocrisy
in the fight against corruption in Nigeria next year.
The statement reads: “Now, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led
administration has started using the Code of Conduct Tribunal to witch
hunt Christians holding top level positions in government at the centre
such as the then Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Onnoghen, the acting
Registrar General of Corporate commission Mrs. Azinge and many others
have been removed from office over nebulous charges just for their faith
and Ethnic identity just as all the Internal Security Services are all
headed by Hausa/Fulani MOSLEMS thereby marginalizing the rest of the
nation including Christians, animists and African traditional
worshippers.”
HURIWA has also expressed absolute lack of confidence and trust in
the commitments of the current administration to decisively wage a
thoroughly objective, balanced and forthright war against the widespread
greed, avarice, bribery, corruption and staggering economic crimes
being systematically carried out by top level government appointees and
unelected members of the so-called Presidential cabal who have come
under the searchlights of overwhelming accusations of heist of federal
government’s resources which the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) and the timid Independent Corrupt Practices and Allied
offences Commission (ICPC) usually gloss over or even go into media
overdrive and unrestrained hysteria of providing defence for the accused
highly connected persons in the corridors of political power in Abuja.
The Rights group said it was “sad and unfortunate that over two dozen
high profile allegations of graft and corruption by Presidency
officials including the Presidential cabal in the mismanagement of
revenues accruing to Nigeria through the activities of rogues in the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; the Federal Inland Revenue
Services, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and even amongst cabinet
level ministers who were governors in the immediate past dispensation
but who have conveniently been granted soft landing and suspended
immunity by the anti-graft bodies just for decamping to the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC).”
The Rights group said the current Ministers of Petroleum Resources
who was former Bayelsa State governor Temipre Silva, the Minister of
Niger Delta Affairs Senator Godswill Akpabio and the Minister of Defence
Major General Bashir Magashi(rtd) implicated in a scam during the
regime of the then maximum military dictator General Sani Abacha of
in-glorious junta are going about as government officials with
Presidential licences to operate as overlords who are above the law of
the land. The current administration promotes impunity and lawlessness.
HURIWA stated as follows: “May we remind President Muhammadu Buhari
that he has been hypocritical about the fight against corruption and his
government has embarked on political vendetta and the use of selective
vigilante justice application both within and without his administration
targeting those elements who are suspected of some levels of
disloyalty.
“Even as recent as Yesterday, the current administration came under
heavy criticism for his failure to act in the alleged indictment of his
Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, for a $550,000 security fund
diversion. Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu reportedly deflected
response on the allegation against the minister of defence.
“HURIWA recalled that as reported by the media, against a groundswell
of allegations of cherry-picking on whom to prosecute in his
anti-corruption offensive, Buhari is now directly fingered for shielding
Magashi, who is accused of stealing and shipping $550,000 from the
nation’s treasury to an offshore account.
“Magashi has been called out to explain his role in the slush amount
he received from the infamous ‘Abacha loot’ estimated by Transparency
International to be at least $5 billion, out of which $3 billion has
been recovered. In aviation ministry, N1 billion was allocated for air
Nigeria since two years now but till now there is no clarity and
accountability from the ministry of Aviation.”
HURIWA therefore challenged the current government to make a
resolution in the New Year to decidedly wage a war against corruption
starting from a six-month wave of anti-graft crusades within the Federal
government officials beginning from the cabinet level ministers and
directors General of federal government agencies in Nigeria.
“The other time the chief security officer to the Wife of the
President was allegedly accused of stealing about N1 billion from the
bedroom of the First Lady and the First family. That allegation has died
down. There is little or no transparency or accountability in the
running of government strategic revenue yielding bodies which even the
regulatory body in the solid and crude minerals sectors known as NEITI
has continuously indicted NNPC in alleged diversion of billions of
Public fund.
“Few days back the newspapers reported that a son of a
Director-General of a federal agency was caught in Dubai with $5 million
USD cash and driving a Lamborghini. The $1 billion security fund taken
from the Escrow account has not been accounted for. The President
Muhammadu Buhari should focus on his home front and stop the political
fights,” the statement added.