Oshiomhole is thinking absurdly

Sir: The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, is quoted as describing politicians who defected from the ruling party (APC) as “men without honour,” insisting that those that left APC did so “because they have realised that their access to converting government money have been cut off.” I argue that Oshiomhole is thinking wrongly and making spurious claims. Otherwise, who “cut off” the “access to converting government money,” and what is the person doing with the “cut off money,” such that Nigeria is worse than APC met her, in terms of security, economy, infrastructure, and mass abject poverty? Yes, Boko Haram was degraded, but along with northeast population and Nigeria’s economy.

Oshiomhole’s claim that “the aggrieved politicians who left the ruling APC were not comfortable with President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade” is baseless, since Buhari himself has not demonstrated that he himself is not corrupt: he was signing contracts for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in his sick bed in London, after handing over power to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, to be the Acting President, and he has not accounted for his stewardship as the self-appointed Petroleum Minister, while also protecting the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, who refused to account for recovered looted funds to the Senate.

Buhari increased fuel price from N97 to N145; he has not explained why he did so, and of what benefit to Nigeria, while hyper inflation is rising higher together with internal and external debts that keep skyrocketing. Where is the honour of Buhari and Oshiomhole, when Fulani herdsmen terrorism is worse than government war against Boko Haram, in terms of level of carnage and economic annihilation of Nigeria, and more people have died and are dying under Buhari than under Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan who started and sustained the carnage and economic destruction of Nigeria, 2009 to 2015? Where is the honour of Buhari and Oshiomhole when the APC government has refused to honour several court judgments and security operatives were used to protect snatching of ballot boxes in the Ekiti gubernatorial election? Where is the honour of Buhari and Oshiomhole when Boko Haram is bouncing back, attacking and ambushing the Army, deploying suicide bombing, and scaring off security operatives? Buhari is not ashamed to admit that porous border is making importation of arms possible, and he is unable to do something about it.

Buhari and Oshiomhole; their stomachs are their gods. Otherwise, let them explain why under their leadership, the national legislators are earning so many millions of naira, monthly, per capita, and Buhari together with those with him in the presidency are unable to tell the public what Nigeria is spending to maintain the presidency. But the former President General Olusegun Obasanjo and others in the Third Force coalition should support rotational presidency, for political order and discipline, in tandem with federal character policy.
Prof. Oyeniran Abioje wrote from University of Ilorin.