Corruption Must Die If Nigeria Must Live, Says Kashamu
Kashamu, in a statement, said all Nigerians must support President Buhari’s anti-graft war.
The senator, who said he was not supporting the war because he planned to switch from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), added that “corruption by whatever colouration is bad and inimical to our growth as a nation”.
He said successive governments had made feeble and largely showmanship attempts to contain corruption with little or no results and without a sustainable plan of action.
“But right now, a more promising and visible attempt is being made to tackle it. Even my party, the PDP, supports the anti-corruption war in spite of some reservations about the way and manner it is being prosecuted. But that is to be expected. While the current government thinks it is normal for it to proceed from the immediate past, my party thinks it should be all-encompassing.
“In a nutshell, they – my party, the PDP and the government – are in agreement on the need to fight corruption, but the point of divergence is: where does it start from and how to go about it. Even at that, I am reminded of a wise saying which states that ‘you do not tell a man how to eat his own food’. The APC are the ones in government. We just finished our run and it is now their turn. They should be allowed to decide how to run their show and call the shots. Whenever and wherever they want to abuse the process, we can point it out and also use constitutional provisions to checkmate them,” Kashamu said.
He added: “Let me make it abundantly clear that I am not in any way romancing the APC. I do not have any plans to jump ship. My position is not borne out of my personal interest but the interest of the masses who are in the majority and the love for my country. Our people have suffered for too long because of a greedy few who amass our commonwealth for themselves and their families.
“If truly politics is about the people and a contest of ideas, I cannot understand why any politician that is worth the name would see an idea that will benefit the people and not support it, irrespective of political leanings. I will support good initiatives, just as I will criticise bad ones. But we must realize that the elections and campaigns are over. Whether we were elected on the platform of the PDP or APC, our people trusted us with their mandate because they know that we would represent them well and fight their course. It is a sacred responsibility that we must not betray.
“The probing of the last government is and must be seen as a warning signal to those who will serve in this present government as well as subsequent ones. The lesson to be learnt from the present scenario is that all public officers must learn not to live as if there is no tomorrow. They should know that nothing lasts forever.
“My earnest expectation is that this current fight against corruption will be unprejudiced, truthful and transparent. There is indeed no country in the world that is not plagued by the menace of corruption but the difference between nations that are doing well in the fight against corruption and those that are not is the inviolability of their penal systems. One other factor that could fast track the fight against corruption is the political will of the leadership. “No one doubts the fact that since we have been having Presidents, this is the first time we are having a President with the demonstrable political will to fight corruption.
“I am not unaware that some people have fled the country into hiding because it is believed that the new EFFC boss is a no nonsense man. This is buoyed by the President’s own reputation. His body language is unambiguously anti-corruption. The campaigns and elections are over. A new leadership has emerged. We now have a Federal Government of Nigeria, headed by a President who is the President of all Nigerians. As Nigerians, we owe it a duty to help him to succeed, for whether we like it or not, we have a common destiny as a people. His success is our success. His failure is our failure.”
He commended the president for depleting the ranks of insurgents.
“In spite of the isolated attacks from the Boko Haram elements, their capacity to violate Nigeria’s sovereignty has been clearly depleted,” he said.
Kashamu said despite its perceived slow start, the Federal Government has taken bold steps to fight corruption and revamp the economy. He described the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy as a step in the right direction that will plug a lot of leakages.
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