By Seyi Babalola
All serving top officials appointed by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari alleged to have abused their offices should not escape justice but must face the law.
Raising the alarm on the pranks of the former officials, a former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday to take immediate action to bring them to face justice.
While raising fears that some corrupt persons in the immediate-past administration have entered the present government, the political activist also told Tinubu to be wary of former Governors especially of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who are now pretending to support him.
He described their motive as selfish while warning that Tinubu should not allow his administration to be a dump site for known corrupt elements.
“Despite the pendency of the presidential election petitions at the tribunal that will determine the true outcome of the last presidential election, Nigerians will commend Tinubu if he is doing well and also call him out if he goes wrong”, Frank said.
He specifically listed those that deserved to be guests of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to include former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; former Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika; former Attorney-General for the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami and Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.
Others were a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq; former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Ms. Hadiza Bala Usman (now appointed Special Adviser to President Tinubu on policy coordination); former Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hammid Ali (rtd); Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Bashir Jamoh, former Managing Directors and Sole Administrators of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as well as former and immediate past Service Chiefs appointed by Buhari.
Frank, who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East made the plea in a statement he issued in Abuja.
He said, “Nigerians know how agencies managed or still being managed by these former and present government officials were run in the most opaque and corrupt manner. The President has no choice but to demand accountability on behalf of the people.
“The suspension and arrest of the Governor of Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele and Chairman of the EEFCC, AbdulRasheed Bawa have been hailed by Nigerians but this is just a tip of the iceberg; the President must not let his anti-corruption drive stop with these two individuals.
“Those that must be investigated and prosecuted are still running free out there and the earlier they are rounded up and made to face the law for economic sabotage, the better for this country. Besides, some of them have already found their way into the present administration like Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman.
“There is further intelligence that others like her are currently lobbying cabal around Tinubu to get a soft landing or better still find their way into the administration by way of appointment.”
Frank insisted that failure to arrest and prosecute “these suspects known to have used their offices for selfish gain” would show that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration was only out to witch-hunt Emefiele and Bawa now under DSS custody.
He insisted that while ex-officials like Sylva needed to answer questions on alleged identity theft, sale of oil blocks, marginal oil fields and refineries, Sirika needed to tell Nigerians the whereabouts of Air Nigeria and monumental funds spent on it so far.
“On her part, Sadiya Umar Farouq needs to tell the DSS and EFCC how money voted for social investment programme especially school feeding were expended”, he said.
He urged the EFCC and DSS to extend the probe to cover former Service Chiefs and Inspector-General of Police from the administration of former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai up to the ones recently retired by the present administration.
