In order to understand the gravity of Mohammed Abacha's running for governor of Kano State on the CPC platform and the damage it does to General Buhari's credibilty as a paragon of anti-corruption, we need to consider the evidence of history and see how General Buhari's (and CPC's) handling of Mohammed Abacha candidacy is at odds with Buhari's claim to incorruptibilty. Actions speak louder than words. The evidence against Mohammed Abacha has been in the public domain, so Buhari and CPC have no excuse to claim that they did not know what sort of man Mohammed Abacha is before accepting him in the party.
"In addition to freezing about USD 640 million, the Swiss judicial authorities handling the case have also indicted Mohammed Abacha and Atiku Bagudu under Swiss legislation concerning money-laundering, fraud and taking part in a criminal organisation"
[see page 2 of the following link: http://www.assetrecovery.org/kc/resources/org.apache.wicket.Application/repo?nid=78488349-a33e-11dc-bf1b-335d0754ba85].
"In the context of those proceedings, the Federal Republic of Nigeria was able to demonstrate that Mohammed ABACHA had failed to disclose his assets in Switzerland and in Luxembourg, which exceeded 1.1 billion US$. This lack of disclosure had, however, no direct effect on the proceedings (although of course it dented Mohammed ABACHA’s credibility as a witness). In July 2001, separate proceedings were commenced before the High Court of Justice of London, relating to the embezzlement of 2 billion US$ from the Central Bank of Nigeria under false security pretences [see page 4 of the document at the following link: www.icc-ccs.org/home/fraudnet/publications/finish/5/46].
It is my opinion that this laxity with respect to Mohammed Abacha demonstrates a consistent pattern of behaviour on the part of General Buhari. It is my thesis that he may be perceived as not being personally corrupt but he often turns a blind eye to corruption of close associates. Witness the 53 suitcases allegation that still dogs him 27 years later. Witness his infamous declaration that "Sani Abacha was not corrupt". A statement that is given the lie by the evidence in various courts around the world. Does Muhammadu Buhari's definition of corruption exclude close associates? That the late Sani Abacha is a close associate is easily gleaned by the fact that he appointed him to head the Petroleum Trust Fund.
The Guardian Newspaper of November 3, 2002 reports on the audit of the Petroleum Trust Fund: "It is a horrendous story of criminal negligence, cynical fraud, and unprecedented disregard for all civilised standards of prudence and transparency in the disbursement of public funds. In the end, the independent consultants concluded that of the N181 billion that accrued to PTF in the four and a half years of its existence between July 1994 and July 1999, as much as N25 billion was either stolen or improperly expended."
And: ". . .when Gen. Buhari was invited to comment on the findings of the committee's consultants regarding the conduct of the empire over which he presided, he coyly retorted that he was not aware that such massive fraud went on his watch, but that in any event, he could not have benefited personally from the hideous purloining of the treasury." Former president Shagari who he overthrew was not personally corrupt, but his ministers were and yet Buhari held him responsible for the failings of his government. But in Buhari's case he disavowed all personal responsibility. Is this not bare-faced hypocrisy given that he was the one that unilaterally appointed Afri-Projects Consortium as the intervention fund's sole consultant?
Is General Buhari now also exempt from responsibility for the corrupt acts of his appointees? But the question needs to be asked: Is corruption only defined by the perception that one has not dipped his hand into the public treasury? What about if your associates are known to have been indicted as corrupt? In the Daily Trust edition of 30, March 2011, we read: "Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) General Muhammadu Buhari was in Kano yesterday for the North-west state-by-state presidential campaign but refused to raise the hands of either the INEC-recognised Muhammad Abacha or the party’s recognised retired General Lawal Jafaru Isa as the party’s governorship candidate in the state."
What a weak and tepid response to serious corruption-related issues by a man who his more ardent mythomaniacs tell us is the solution to Nigeria's corruption. They hope their persistent hagiographization will deflect attention from the present. We live in the present and whatever decisions we make concerning General Buhari's candidacy in 2011 must take into account his actions in 2011. Mohammed Abacha has never hidden his ambition to become Kano State governor. He was once in the ANPP before migrating to CPC. Knowing this, they could easily have denied him the CPC platform.
There are serious questions that General Buhari (or supporters) should answer. Why did they accept Abacha as a member of the CPC with the weight of these indictments hanging on his neck? In responding to this question, CPC says this: "In a statement last weekend, the CPC said apart from the alleged inducement of delegates, the party was not also comfortable with Abacha’s candidature because of his numerous alleged indictments by the federal government and the United States of America, which it said he refused to disclose to the party." This as far as I am concerned is a very weak response that only the undiscerning will fall for. The Abacha case was widely publicized and the indictments were widely reported in local and foreign media [as attested by the SaharaReporters link at the end of the page]. This excuse is downright silly and is obviously a late attempt at damage control.
Having become convinced that he procured his nomination through corrupt "money politics", why did the CPC not expel him from the party? After all, one would expect that for a political party running on a supposed anticorruption platform, their party constitution would spell out punitive measures for corruption-related activities such as "money politics". In response to this, the general's supporters tell us that CPC has appealed the court judgment declaring Mohammed Abacha the CPC candidate and the general is waiting for the court's pronouncement. As far as I am concerned this is another "rule of law" ruse a la James Ibori. This situation could have been so easily prevented by denying Abacha membership of the party.
If Muhammadu Buhari's CPC (his personal vehicle for his 3rd attempt at the Presidency), where his word is revered, is acting in such a weak and permissive manner concerning Mohammed Abacha, a man indicted on charges pertaining to money-laundering, fraud and taking part in a criminal organisation; how does he expect me to take him serious with respect to his anti-corruption credentials? After all my friends have assured me that in the cut and thrust and wheeling and dealing of representative democracy, General Buhari is going to jail all corrupt governors, senators, etc.
It is my conclusion that General Buhari's present actions in the case of Mohammed Abacha are at variance with the picture presented by his supporters of a committed anti-corruption crusader.
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