COAS, Gen. Buratai
Human rights activist and opinion leaders in the country has said the clearance given to the Chief of Army Staff, General Buratai by the Federal Government over the purchase of two houses in Dubai, is a death knell to Buhari's anti-corruption war. The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has given the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai the all-clear over acquisition of some properties in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
In a statement by PRNigeria yesterday, the federal government said his offshore investments were based on capital market principles of “shareholding. The capital market principle that governed the property in issue, as it was found by investigators, was akin to having shares in companies instead of wholly owning the property.
“Government, after investigating a recent media report over the acquisition of property in Dubai, by General Buratai, discovered that he and his wives invested as “shareholders,” like many other persons in the property mentioned in the publications and were not sole owners. If you know the property being referred to, you would know that they are like quoted companies. You buy into them and get dividends as profit from your investments. You can also do your own private findings on this fact,” PRNigeria said.
Nigerians are, however, not buying government’s explanation. In separate interviews, they told Daily Sun that Buratai’s clearance is a slap on President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
First to fire the salvo was Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, who slammed government for defending Buratai. Falana said it was not the business of the army to speak on the allegations against Buratai.
He said since public office requires public trust, Buratai should submit himself to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the anti-graft agencies to clear his name.
“Buratai should willingly invite the CCB, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and ICPC to look into the matter. If Buratai was alleged to have unjustly purchased the houses, he has to come out to defend himself. He must show how the money used to purchase the houses was transferred.”
Another activist and an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Kayode Ajulo, queried why government hurriedly cleared Buratai without allowing for proper investigation.
“I subscribe to the constitutional provision that no one is guilty of an offence until proven to the contrary. On that note, it is not my duty to declare Buratai guilty. However, it is unfortunate for the federal government to hurriedly give Buratai a clean bill.
“In recent times, there were lots of probes involving his colleagues; some of them have been charged to court. But, it is curious that within 24 hours, the executive, which has so much on its hands, would hurriedly give him a clean bill.
“Governance should meet the ordinary eye of the public. By this action, it shows that there are two types of Nigerians, which is quite unfortunate. Due process of investigation should have been allowed to be done…”
Chairman of Ogun State chapter of Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Ogun State, Comrade Olayinka Folarin said he “finds it difficult to believe that the Federal Government, which is fighting corruption in Nigeria, will clear Buratai, an army officer who is supposed to lead by example.
"The clearance is a big calamity and a dent on the war against corruption being fought by President Muhammadu Buhari. It also shows that the corruption war is lopsided and selective which means that some people will keep enjoying immunity even when they are supposed to be investigated and punished.”
Former chairman of the Ikeja Branch of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani said the clearance was laughable. He, however, said Buratai’s clearance did not represent the position of government.
“How can they be the ones to clear him? Are they security agencies? If somebody is alleged to have committed a crime, can another agency that has no constitutional powers clear him? On what basis did they clear him? They should have allowed the EFCC to investigate the man. It sounds ridiculous. That cannot be clearance.”
Activist lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa said the clean bill of health handed the army chief cast a slur on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“I believe it has exposed the hypocrisy of the Buhari administration as not fighting the war against corruption on a clean slate. They should have allowed the agencies of government such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to properly investigate (the matter). The Minister of Defence and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation have no statutory authority to undertake criminal investigation.”
Credit: The Sun
No comments:
Post a Comment