Senator Buruji Kashamu, representing Ogun East Senatorial District, has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to speed up the alleged corruption trial of ex-Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.
Both Gbenga and Kashamu are contending for the chairmanship stool of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Kashamu, who described the PDP Chairmanship ambition of Daniel as “a mockery of democracy and assault on the anti-corruption war”, faulted the former governor for attacking the anti-corruption drive of the present administration during his formal declaration to contest for chairman of the opposition party last Wednesday.
The senator, in a statement, urged the Ogun State government and the and EFCC to expedite action on Daniel’s alleged corruption case since he was now making a jest of the anti-corruption war.
The statement reads, “Daniel’s speech at his declaration for the PDP National Chairmanship race was a compendium of mockery of our democracy and direct assault on the anti-corruptiion war. In that speech, there was nothing OGD didn’t call himself whereas he is actually the exact opposite of all these attributes.
“He insultingly eulogised the undemocratic past of which he was eminently involved; when our elections were characterised by shameless rigging, as if current efforts and legislations to ensure free and fair elections are unworthy.”
“Furthermore, he sought to trivialise his ongoing EFCC case where he is truly being accused of converting Judge’s quarters into his private mansion, converting government land and other innocent people’s land acquired fraudulently under the pretence of public use, into his commercial hotel project, etc, etc and sundry corruption allegations and visible abuse of office. He has indeed by this, thrown an open challenge at the EFCC and by extension, the Federal government.”
He added “I implore the Federal government and particularly Ogun State, to show more interests in the OGD -EFCC affairs; more so now that prosecuting witnesses are being scared off from appearing in court. This unholy arrangement has already emboldened OGD as capable of weakening the chances of his conviction.
“Candidly, this current pretensions and public bravado of a chairmanship contest by OGD is truly aimed at turning his corruption cases and sundry pending criminal assaults and killing allegations into cases of political victimisation and assault on the opposition.
“As much as one calls on the government to take needed necessary actions by refusing to be cheaply blackmailed; more importantly, the leaders of PDP need to ensure that our party and indeed, all of us, are unwittingly not dragged into an avoidable, disgraceful and infamously criminal corruption saga.”
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