Ex-Abia State Governor Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to convince Nigerians of his anti- corruption war by probing former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the multi-million naira he allegedly wasted on power projects.
He said Buhari should arrest Obasanjo for Nigerians to believe he is fighting corruption.
Kalu said: “Unless Buhari arrests Obasanjo, anti-corruption war has not started.”
He spoke yesterday in Abuja while delivering a paper on the topic: ‘Culture, Economy and Good Governance: The Nigerian Experience’, at a quarterly public lecture organised by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO).
Kalu dismissed his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as political, saying it was one of the consequences of his fight against Obasanjo’s third term agenda.
Said he: “I was the first governor to make his account public. That EFCC is trying me is political and it is because I fought the third time agenda of Obasanjo. If there is opportunity tomorrow to fight third term, I will fight it. If President Buhari wants to be president for life, I will never support him again. The people knew my account in Abia is open and transparent. The US, UK and China know and they give me red carpet each time I am in those countries. That is a statement of fact.
“In fact, I am stronger to fight corruption than President Buhari because he is not fighting it well. I am stronger to recoup people’s money and return it to them. I am a creator of wealth at any level from when I was in the university. If any court pronounces that I am corrupt, I should be jailed. A corrupt politician or a judge is like an armed robber.”
Kalu said restructuring had become a terminology by politicians, instead of advocating true fiscal federalism, which involved transferring responsibilities from Exclusive List to Concurrent List for effective governance and in the true spirit of a federation.
“I have lost my airline, oil block, commercial bank to the government. So, I don’t have anything to lose again. I am an activist now because I’m not afraid to say anything, as I have nothing to lose again,” he added
“Has the herdsmen/farmers conflict helped to grow investment in agriculture? Has it attracted any foreign investor to the sector? Will it attract any? How does our attitude towards settler ethnic communities help us to grow our local economy?”
The Nation
