Buhari must Probe Obasanjo Administration –Shettima

Yerima Shettima, President, Arewa Youth Consultative forum has

said that for President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption fight to be effective, he must probe previous administrations beginning from 1999. In this interview, he also urged the President to adopt the report from the past PRONACO conference, saying that the country has a lot to benefit from it.

President Buhari has been accused of favouring the north in his appointments, especially with the formation of his kitchen cabinet. Do you agree?

Well, it gives some of us a lot of concern because some of us believe strongly that Nigeria should come first before any other thing. However, we must appreciate the fact that we have come of age that we now run a country with the look of a nation even if we not a nation yet. But we must also be seen to proactively be working towards becoming a nation. For us to move as a nation, every section of the country must be carried along. We must be seen to do justice to all. We must be seen to apply the principle of equity so that we can achieve that nationhood. But with the recent happening, some of us have our reservation. I think that whoever is at the helm of affairs must be seen to demonstrate nationalistic instinct in whatever he does. You are not supposed to identify only with your particular tribe or section of the country. You are asked to consider everybody as a member of the country.

 To that extent we must be seen to do it right. Truly some of us from the north really sympathize with people who felt that they are being marginalized. We believe strongly that to build a nation you have to carry everybody along.

The President said his government will fight corruption, but it seems what we have seen is trial in the media. What is your position?

Beyond just declaring the intent by this new government, it must be seen to be forthcoming in order to be different from the past governments. To do that, it must open up and fight whosoever it is, not minding whether the person is in their political fold. If the government cannot go back to the military era, it must revisit from 1999 Obasanjo administration till date. We can do it holistically if the government means well. But some are not comfortable if the probe is restricted to the last administration. No, certainly whoever pronounced that has skeleton in his cupboard. Nobody is against any probe but the probe must not be selective. Any attempt to make it selective might collapse the government. I have problem with most of these characters who are agitators of this change. They are part of this so called corruption we are talking about. The so called actors today in our political scene are the same people who looted the national treasury. 

They have suddenly run to another political party and they have become saints overnight. So, if the government fails to probe everybody then we are going to run into trouble.  Look at the Parastatals, various state governments and the kind of debts the previous governors left behind. I give an example of Lagos, Kano, and some other places, the kind of revenues that accrued to them and the kind of money the governors are alleged to have amassed. 

Some of the beneficiaries of Obasanjo government, the likes of Amaechi, El Rufai, etc, are in government today. From nowhere they become agents of change. When did they repent? So, the government must be seen to be decisive and non-selective in handling this issue.

According to Balarabe Musa, former governor of old Kaduna, the public declaration of assets by the President showed that he was never a poor man. What is your take?

He was never. Anybody who thought PMB was a poor man was fooling himself. For a man to have acquired properties over N11billion is no longer a poor man.

Did you say N11billion?

Well, from what we heard, they said if you add everything, not the cash alone, what he has is close to 11billion. So, if he has up to that, it means he is not a poor man. He is a very comfortable man. I feel he was only making jest when he said during campaign that he did not have money to buy his party’s presidential form then. Otherwise, how much was the form for somebody who now says he has N30million in his account?

Many still believe that the national conference report if properly implemented would help Nigeria come out of the woods. But it seems this government is not interested in implementing it considering his party’s stance during the conference. What is your own position?

To me it looks very rare that another government will inherit and implement that kind of report unless it is the figment of your imagination. But again I have my own reservation concerning the confab itself because some of us were totally against the confab. 

The selection of representatives was not done properly, and in a confab where certain areas are said to be ‘no-go areas’, then you should expect it to be one of those conferences in the past. So rather than that I would have expected the government then to look for the more legitimate conferences we have had in the past like the PRONACO Conference. People from various communities, over 300 ethnic nationalities sat down voluntarily to discuss under the leadership of the late Chief Anthony Enahoro  without any influence of any government whatsoever. All of us were there and most people never believed that that kind of conference would come and go smoothly without people dying or Nigeria breaking. But at the end of the day we managed the process from 2005-2006 and came out with a draft constitution. So, to me I think the PRONACO Report is far richer or legitimate than the Jonathan conference.

About 500 days after the abduction of the Chibok girls, we are yet to find them. Do we still have hope?

I doubt if we still have hope because you have a situation where America, France and other countries have come with their technologies and yet could not detect where over 200 people are. And one should not imagine that those girls are just held hostage somewhere.