The war of words between the wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, and Governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, over issues of governance, calls for a deeper reflection on the fight against corruption by the All Progressives Congress (APC) led administration.
Like most developing countries, fighting corruption in Nigeria is a herculean task, with beneficiaries of corrupt regime fighting back with equal intensity with which the authority exposed their misdeeds and unpatriotic acts. It is a task, which the beneficiaries of corruption point reproachful fingers at government, with the intent of casting doubt on the sincerity of the task in the mind of citizens.
This brought to the fore Fayose’s allegations against Aisha Buhari. As it is in law, he who alleges must prove. Contrary to this rule, Fayose has alleged that Mrs. Buhari had committed a crime in the United States.
Some weeks ago, Governor Fayose accused the wife of the President for alleged involvement in a messy bribery scandal involving Williams Jefferson, a US Congressman. The Ekiti state governor distributed a link to the US Department of Justice’s website holding court documents where Aisha Buhari was alleged to have transferred suspicious funds to a convicted former American congressman, Williams Jefferson. In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose said President Buhari was far from being a clean man.
However, the US government through her former Ambassador to Nigeria, James F. Entwistle, gave Mrs. Buhari a clean bill. He had declared that Aisha Buhari did not commit any crime in the US. Also, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, cleared her of any wrong doing in the US. In the same vein, former Chairman of the EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, who at the time was in opposition party, said the said Aishat Buhari is not the wife of the President, and was investigated during his tenure as EFCC boss. He added that they were preparing for her repatriation when he was removed from office.
For many people like me who are interested in Fayose’s allegation, I think that an opportunity has presented itself for him (Fayose), as it is also morally right; to prove further that Aisha Buhari had committed the crime in US, now that she is in the US for an official assignment. This will also ensure her quick arrest by the US government.
The vociferous Ekiti State governor should immediately tender an unreserved apology to President Buhari and his wife, Aisha, for the many unsubstantiated and false allegations he made against them, and not wait till the wife of the President returns to Nigeria; common sense demands that he tenders a public apology to this innocent woman, who together with her husband have laboured so hard to build a high reputation that abhors corruption.
Every rational citizen of this country is aware of the reason Fayose levelled such weighty allegations on the wife of the President. The allegation came on the heels of his investigation by the EFCC over source of his campaign funds. But it was unfortunate that Fayose turned deaf ears to the maxim that, ‘he who goes to equity must go with clean hands’. And he has been put off balance by several testimonies against him. And now that he cannot prove his allegations against the wife of the President, Fayose should bury his head in shame.
The Halliburton scandal took place between 2000 and 2005, and Jefferson was convicted in 2009. On Thursday, 4th August 2016, the wife of the President was in US for an official visit where she received a warm reception from Nigerians in the US.
As proof of her visit were photos posted on her Facebook page showed when she arrived the states, received to a bouquet, and her flying the Nigerian flag with pride. All these are in public domain.
Interestingly, there hasn’t been any report of the wife of the president being arrested in US, and our lousy governor is yet to comment on the event. This could be the final straw since Mrs. Buhari is indeed in United States and she is yet to be arrested by the US security operatives. This also suggests that
Fayose’s allegations are unfounded.
Abdullahi Aishat,
Kaduna, abdullahiaishat65@gmail.com