Jonathan didn’t perform but Buhari must prove he’s a saint – Balarabe Musa

 ABUJA — Second Republic Governor of Kaduna State,
Alhaji Balarabe Musa, yesterday, doubted the ability
and sincerity of President Muhammadu Buhari to
confront the endemic problem of corruption in
Nigeria and put an end to it.
Musa, who spoke in an exclusive interview with
Vanguard in his Kaduna home, said President Buhari
had already lost the moral right to prosecute the
anti-corruption war by restricting the probe of
corrupt officials to those in former President
Jonathan’s government.
The former governor made it clear that Buhari had
shot himself in the foot by deliberately limiting the
war to Jonathan’s era, thereby making some highly
corrupt persons to escape and carry on as
saints. Musa noted that while Buhari and Jonathan
were not on the same page when it comes to
leadership, Buhari must prove that he is not being
surrounded by highly corrupt persons while looking
out for those to be prosecuted for graft.
Musa said it was a tragedy to have made Jonathan the
president of Nigeria given the fact that he neither
had the experience nor the competence to rule
Nigeria. He said: “In the first place Jonathan should
not have been the president of Nigeria because he
lacks both the competence and the experience to run
the country successfully. Nigeria is not a place to
train on the job because unlike in America where
there is a set standard in place, it is the leader who
sets the standard in Nigeria.”
While blaming former President Olusegun Obasanjo
for the emergence of Jonathan on the leadership
saddle of Nigeria despite his leadership
shortcomings, Musa said Buhari must prove that he
has what it takes to move Nigeria a notch
higher. Musa added: “We don’t dispute the fact that
Jonathan should not have been made the president
of Nigeria at the time he was brought in but the point
remains that Buhari must also prove that he is the
saint he has portrayed himself to be.
“But my fear is that there are so many corrupt
persons around Buhari and in APC and PDP while he
has deliberately decided to limit his probe of corrupt
persons to only those who served under Jonathan.
This is very sad and a clear evidence of selective trial
of opponents.”
Musa stated that for Buhari to be taken seriously in
the fight against corruption, he must examine and
convince himself that he is sincere and ready to
conduct a fair trial of corrupt persons irrespective of
their party affiliation and status in society. He
pointed out that while he would not mention names
of corrupt persons, he was convinced that there were
many corrupt persons in both APC and PDP who are
even more dangerous than former President
Jonathan.
He said: “I will advise Buhari to convince himself that
he is morally and politically capable to undertake the
responsibility of cleaning up Nigeria. I will ask him to
constitute a government of national unity involving
all the political parties in Nigeria in the task of
rebuilding Nigeria.”