Human rights activist and opinion leaders in the
country has said the clearance given to the Chief
of Army Staff, General Buratai by the Federal
Government over the purchase of two houses in
Dubai, is a death knell to Buhari's anti-corruption
war.
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal
Government has given the Chief of Army Staff,
General Tukur Buratai the all-clear over acquisition
of some properties in Dubai, the United Arab
Emirates.
In a statement by PRNigeria yesterday, the federal
government said his offshore investments were
based on capital market principles of
“shareholding. The capital market principle that
governed the property in issue, as it was found by
investigators, was akin to having shares in
companies instead of wholly owning the property.
“Government, after investigating a recent media
report over the acquisition of property in Dubai, by
General Buratai, discovered that he and his wives
invested as “shareholders,” like many other persons
in the property mentioned in the publications and
were not sole owners. If you know the property
being referred to, you would know that they are like
quoted companies. You buy into them and get
dividends as profit from your investments. You can
also do your own private findings on this fact,”
PRNigeria said.
Nigerians are, however, not buying government’s
explanation. In separate interviews, they told Daily
Sun that Buratai’s clearance is a slap on President
Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
First to fire the salvo was Senior Advocate of
Nigeria, Femi Falana, who slammed government
for defending Buratai. Falana said it was not the
business of the army to speak on the allegations
against Buratai.
He said since public office requires public trust,
Buratai should submit himself to the Code of
Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the anti-graft agencies
to clear his name.
“Buratai should willingly invite the CCB, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and ICPC to look into the matter. If Buratai
was alleged to have unjustly purchased the houses,
he has to come out to defend himself. He must
show how the money used to purchase the houses
was transferred.”
Another activist and an Abuja-based legal
practitioner, Kayode Ajulo, queried why government
hurriedly cleared Buratai without allowing for proper
investigation.
“I subscribe to the constitutional provision that no
one is guilty of an offence until proven to the
contrary. On that note, it is not my duty to declare
Buratai guilty. However, it is unfortunate for the
federal government to hurriedly give Buratai a clean
bill.
“In recent times, there were lots of probes involving
his colleagues; some of them have been charged to
court. But, it is curious that within 24 hours, the
executive, which has so much on its hands, would
hurriedly give him a clean bill.
“Governance should meet the ordinary eye of the
public. By this action, it shows that there are two
types of Nigerians, which is quite unfortunate. Due
process of investigation should have been allowed
to be done…”
Chairman of Ogun State chapter of Committee for
the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Ogun
State, Comrade Olayinka Folarin said he “finds it
difficult to believe that the Federal Government,
which is fighting corruption in Nigeria, will clear
Buratai, an army officer who is supposed to lead by
example.
"The clearance is a big calamity and a dent on the
war against corruption being fought by President
Muhammadu Buhari. It also shows that the
corruption war is lopsided and selective which
means that some people will keep enjoying
immunity even when they are supposed to be
investigated and punished.”
Former chairman of the Ikeja Branch of Nigerian
Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani said the
clearance was laughable. He, however, said
Buratai’s clearance did not represent the position
of government.
“How can they be the ones to clear him? Are they
security agencies? If somebody is alleged to have
committed a crime, can another agency that has no
constitutional powers clear him? On what basis did
they clear him? They should have allowed the EFCC
to investigate the man. It sounds ridiculous. That
cannot be clearance.”
Activist lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa said the
clean bill of health handed the army chief cast a
slur on President Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration.
“I believe it has exposed the hypocrisy of the
Buhari administration as not fighting the war
against corruption on a clean slate. They should
have allowed the agencies of government such as
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices
Commission (ICPC) to properly investigate (the
matter). The Minister of Defence and the Secretary
to the Government of the Federation have no
statutory authority to undertake criminal
investigation.”
Credit: The Sun
