Former Special Assistant to then president Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to borrow a leaf from his former principal by firing the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and other officials accused of corruption.
Omokri, who was reacting to Buhari’s comment that officials in his administration were accused of corruption without evidence, pointed out that Jonathan relieved his ministers (Prof Barth Nnaji and Stella Oduah) of their duties on the strength of allegations leveled against them, even when no investigation was carried out.
“Mr President, you said you are fighting corruption and I really applaud you but what kind of corruption are you fighting, when the gloves are off for people in the previous administration but when it is your own people the gloves are on?
“Look, President Jonathan had a minister who wasn’t guilty of corruption, Professor Barth Nnaji; he wasn’t guilty of corruption. He was accused of being guilty of conflict of interest and even upon investigation, it was found out that he had not done anything.
“But just that mere accusation, President Jonathan relieved him of his appointment as minister of power and appointed somebody else. When the story burst about Stella Oduah, when she was minister, even before any investigation was done, President Jonathan relieved her of her appointment.
“When you have people accused in your administration and you want people to note that you are an anti-corruption fighter and instead of you doing the needful, you come out and start defending them and you are asking discerning Nigerians to… where were you when people of the previous administration were being accused without evidence? I have been accused without evidence, a number of my colleagues have been accused without evidence. Why don’t you apply the same principle that Amaechi applied on others on him. This is patently unfair.”
Omokri went on to state that it was unfair that people accused of corruption in Jonathan’s administration were being accorded a separate treatment from what was given to those similarly accused in Buhari’s administration.
His words, “This is exactly the same thing I’m talking about, a minister like Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, he believes and he levels charges of corruption against people from the previous regimes, notably the (former) president and first lady without evidence.
“And this administration celebrates him; supporters of this administration celebrate him and the president turns around — that same Amaechi has been accused of corruption by the supreme court justices and he makes this statement.
“Mr President, I agree with you but we have to be above board; you cannot have the same set of principles for people of your administration and another set of principles for members of the previous administration.”
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