A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Katch Ononuju, has picked holes in the anti-corruption crusade of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, tasking him on the Halliburton bribery scandal.
Ononuju said that Buhari’s fight against graft was not holistic.
He, however, urged the President to summon courage and deal with the Halliburton scandal issue, saying that it would put an end to the allegations and counter-allegations between the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose and the First Lady, Aisha Buhari.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in Abuja, the PDP chieftain, who declared support for the anti-corruption war, added that President Buhari himself must be honest and sincere in his fight against graft.
He said, “I support the anticorruption fight totally. I support Buhari’s intention to fight corruption, but Buhari also has to be honest.
“You can see the problem with the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose. If Buhari had the courage to deal with the Halliburton issue, then we will be able to find out if the Aisha Buhari in page 42 of that court judgment in Virginnia is actually his wife or it is someone else. But because he is not fighting corruption holistically, people now tend that he is biased.”
Ononuju maintained that for the anti-corruption crusade to be holistic, the President must also investigate the election finances of the All Progressives Congress.
“I know now that they are fighting and talking about an investigation of PDP election finances. What about investigating APC election finances, too?
“If you ask me, I support the anti-corruption fight by any government hundred percent. You can see, I served government, I served the last President, but I am not integrity challenged. So, whoever is asked questions, should go and answer.
“Buhari’s strategy of picking and choosing who he thinks are perceived political enemies and calling it anti-corruption fight, is totally a non-starter,” he said.
Ononuju also questioned why the panel investigating arms procurement from 2007 to 2015 let the former chief of Army Staff and current Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazzau (rtd), off the hook.
“If Buhari is honest, how come the investigation into the Ministry of Defence suddenly removed the tenure of General Abdulrahman Dambazzau?
“So, those who claim that the present Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, should also be sanctioned are correct, because if Buratai had joined the Army and had been a General from the very first day, it would take him 58 years to earn the money to buy those houses in Dubai” he said.
The PDP chieftain, therefore, stressed that with the exclusion of the two Army chiefs from the list of those indicted for corruption because they are now serving in his government, the signals had become clearer that Buhari’s anti-graft war had been selective and targeted at only the opposition.
“This is why we are saying it is not a holistic fight. No fire service comes to any property and start to put out the fire on a corner of the property. No, you put out the fire holistically, so if we need to fight corruption, we fight it holistically.
“So, I think, yes, the President is challenged. I do not think he is honest with his anti-corruption fight. I think it should be a holistic fight.
“We should leave a very good legacy for our children and the young Nigerians who look up to us, should see us to be honest in what we say and in what we do. I do not believe the President is totally sincere in his intentions about fighting corruption” Ononuju added.
