Questions Buhari And His Aides Must Answer, By Tunde Abatan
Much as one would have preferred to just move forward and forget the ugly past of Nigeria’s misrule for eight Years by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s, the shadows of this ugly past keep on poking into the present and made the future looks dim.
This is the more reason why, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s sixteen President is not a man you envy.
He is not, especially at this time when in spite of his determination to accept his fate as a man who never bargained for what he saw, each passing day seems like a period of new discovery of dark alleys and deep evil secrets in the government of his predecessor who he ironically helped into power.
Like a Yoruba proverb. Oro ko dun lenu Iya omo ole…mother of a thief has no cheering word except opprobrium and ridicule.
For Tinubu, life and governance in the past eight months has been akin to Yoruba Word-mess inside the masquerade (Iso inu eku,amu mora ni) meaning-the masquerade has to cope with putrid smells from his mess. For that he has no excuse.
The only option he has, if he is feeling uncomfortable is to remove the mask masking him and the real him will be exposed. But obviously that is not to be, for political correctness.
He asked for it and got it.
True, Tinubu has told all Nigerians Who cared to listen that he asked for the Job.
As a result, he has not told Nigerians his inner disappointment and won’t likely tell them because he helped his predecessor to power.
Those Governors and associates like Abdulrazak of Kwara and Senator Gbenga Daniel of Ogun who spilled the beans of grand Corruption and sell -off of Nigeria’s oil before Tinubu took over spoke out of a pity for a man they cared for and pity.
But it is very obvious the man Who handed over power to Tinubu never care for Who succeeds him since he sees himself as saintly.
That Self-assertion will be proved in due course.
Tinubu is a man who discovered the content of a room he had to stay for four years, but had no choice but live with both the good. If any, bad and ugly.
Well, that is for Tinubu.
However, much as we feel the uneasiness in the land, we have to begin to ask questions from former President Muhammadu Buhari whose actions in government laid the foundation for today’s problems we’ve had to tackle.
Thank God Our job in making Buhari answer question is so easy since God Who sees the heart has ambushed Buhari from relocating to Niger Republic where his cousins and friend the deposed President Mohammed Bazoum lives. Since the New junta in Niger has detained their former Leader, Bazoum, Buhari has nowhere to run to.
The only difference is neither Tinubu nor NASS has the nerve and gut to summon the former President to appear before it from his Daura, residence.
This makes Our job easier.
Former Works Minister, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, gave us all a clue as to why we have the ugly disclosures in Buhari’s government as regards action and inactions of his Ministers when he declared that Buhari is a Leader who will give his aides- ministers inclusive, a job and never bother to check on their performance.
In establishment either public or private, management supervision is crucial and necessary and a bit of human management must have been taught Buhari in some of the trainings he attended both local and overseas while in military service.
While this is not an excuse to absolve Buhari of misgovernance for eight Years, he must be made to come out and say the Truth about what he knows about Fraud, Corruption, Insecurity and all the malfeance which characterise his government and made both Umaru Yaradua and Goodluck Jonathan regimes saintly.
Buhari must be made by the National Assembly to appear before them-since Tinubu will not do it, why Godwin Emefiele, the Chief Monetary Officer printed so much money by Ways and Means, to the tune of N30-40 trillion, pumped into an economy with no productivity to back it up.
Except fraction of OPEC oil allocation produced but not enough to sustain our Imports; Service our mounting debts and even pay local contractors including foreign Airlines and others who must remit part of their money home.
Buhari must explain why he allowed Emefiele and his cohorts to allow Forex earnings by foreign Airlines mount to $7bn dollars out of which only $5.8bn dollars are verifiable according to Yemi Cardoso, the new CBN Governor.
Since the NASS are empowered to perform oversight functions, they must be courageous enough to forget partisanship, look at Nigeria and help us get to the cause of our afflictions as a country.
Late sage Obafemi Awolowo, once described Nigeria as a reactive country which cries out at symptoms of her problems without tackling headlong the cause of such.
Buhari, architect of today’s economic woes
Let both arm of the legislature rescue Tinubu and by extension Nigeria from the powerful cabal who hijacked Buhari and his government and made the startling revelations coming from Jim Obazee, an investigator hired by Tinubu to look at CBN books, give us a guide to identify source of our afflictions.
The questioning of Buhari may also help to know why his Ministers and aides embark on over- invoicing to the tune of between $6-8billion to cater for their needs while Buhari wring his hand pretending all is well.
All will not be well while the evil men in Buhari’s government parade the streets of Nigeria with there I’ll gotten wealth.
Tinubu, unenviable task of cleaning the mess left behind by his predecessor
The NASS action similar to the Chukwudifu Oputa panel set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo will also help Tinubu to identify some of his party men who are culpable in the financial malfeasance and allow him defeat corruption now source of our economic and security afflictions.
It is only by punishing those who stole and compromise Nigeria under Buhari’s watch that a Renewed Hope promised by Tinubu may be realised.
It will serve as evidence that Tinubu’s government too will not allow similar fate to befall it.
The NASS has to help themselves, help Tinubu and help Nigeria if truly their oversight functions will be meaningful.
