By Kemi Kasumu, General Editor
“However, should there be enough proofs to link former President Olusegun Obasanjo, or any Nigerian whatsoever with any fraud related case(s), I don’t think the President who rode to power on the strength of anti-corruption fight should do otherwise as demanded by the ex-governor. Questions would however be asked about why government waited until Chief Obasanjo wrote the letter where he advised the President to vacate his seat in 2019 before such cases were dug out against him.”
President of the Accountable Leadership for Better Nigeria Initiative (ALBNI), Mr. Remi Adebayo, has advised former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, to conclusively face his corruption trial first before he begins to talk about how or not his case is product of political witch-hunt.
In a message emailed to The DEFENDER from Abuja on Wednesday, the civil society’s leader, reacting to a report on Tuesday also published by this medium of Kalu saying that he would not take President Buhari’s anti-corruption war serious until he arrested former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said it would have been better for the former governor to go to equity with clean hands.
According to the message, it is out of place for a man standing trial on a N3.2 billion charge bothering on corruption to think that he has the liberty of casting aspersion on others until he is acquitted and freed from the crime.
Mr. Remi Adebayo, who wrote from Abuja, said: “First, I think the former Abia State governor; Dr Orji Uzor Kalu should conclusively face his trial before coming to the point of political witch-hunt. If I were him, that would be necessary to approaching equity with clean hands.
“To me, a man standing trial on a N3.2 billion charge bothering on corruption should not enjoy the liberty of casting aspersion on others until he’s totally absolved of crime; and not just that, I think President Muhammadu Buhari should rather show to the whole world that membership of his by party by those being tried or accused to be corrupt would not be a shield or barrier to their trial.
“Recall that one Mr Kingsley Ekwem, a legal practitioner, alongside two others, refused to testify as a prosecution witness in the trial in the alleged N3.2billion fraud case. Instead, the lawyer asked Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court, Lagos to set aside a witness summons served on him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to testify in the matter.
“However, should there be enough proofs to link former President Olusegun Obasanjo, or any Nigerian whatsoever with any fraud related case(s), I don’t think the President who rode to power on the strength of anti-corruption fight should do otherwise as demanded by the ex-governor.
“Questions would however be asked about why government waited until Chief Obasanjo wrote the letter where he advised the President to vacate his seat in 2019 before such cases were dug out against him.
“I am sure the President would not want to stir up political storm reasoning along that line of thought. As we approach the election year therefore, those close to Buhari should be interested in how more they could support him to fight insecurity in the country and winning him more friends than using the president as a tool for personal fights,” he said.
