Balarabe Musa to Buhari: Probe your military regime if you’re serious about corruption war

A former governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to extend his corruption probe to past regimes starting from 1966.

He said such an investigation should include Mr. Buhari’s military regime between 1983 and 1985.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES in Kaduna, the former governor said Nigerians have erroneously portrayed Mr. Buhari as capable of solving Nigeria’s problems.

He said the president can only address the key problems facing the country if he adopts a revolutionary approach.

The former governor accused Mr. Buhari of violating the federal character law, saying he has clearly favoured the north in his appointments.

“Those who are complaining that President Buhari is favouring the North in appointments have a strong case,” he said.

“But I want Nigerians to persuade him to change and obey the Federal Character Principle which is a law in the country.

“Those who say that Buhari is the solution to Nigeria’s problems should not deceive themselves and they should not deceive him too.

“They should tell him straight to the face that what he is doing is not in accord with morality and the laws of the country,” Mr. Musa said.

While he said he supported Mr. Buhari during his quest to become the president in 2003, 2007 and 2011, he said he did not support him in 2015 because of the changing dynamics in the country.

Asked why he supported the president in earlier elections, he said Mr. Buhari had the least risk compared to the other candidates who contested the polls.

The former governor said by 2015, the dynamics changed and the country faced with two alternatives — incompetence in government and fascism.

“We had to go with incompetence because we can do something to change incompetence but you can’t change a fascist. A fascist will not give you any chance,” he said.

“Let me tell you without any waste of time. We think Buhari cannot deal with the negative state of the nation characterised with poverty, unemployment, hunger, corruption, collapse of public services and lack of confidence in the nation’s leadership.

“But I also think that he is better than those he contested with and those who are emerging because the presidential hopefuls for 2019 have appeared already. But the prevailing national situation will not allow him to make a difference.

“What he should do is to convert himself into a revolutionary. What it means is that he will confront the problems of the country realistically without pretence and change the system that control development which is now predicated on self-interest.

“At the moment, he seems to be sparing some people because he said he will probe only Jonathan’s administration and will not probe the others.

“That is negative and short-sighted and will not solve the problem of the country. He should go the whole hog from 1966 till date because the corruption we find today started at that time,” the former governor said.

He argued the military brought corruption into politics in the country, adding that the records are there to show.

“He should probe everyone and everything including himself. After all, the probe will be done by a committee to be appointed by him. If he appoints credible people, the committee will deal with him also,” he said.