The Travails Of A Senator

BY.... WALE BAKARE There has been a beehive of activities in the Nigerian political terrain of recent. Top on the melee is the Farouk Lawan subsidy scam probe being attended to by the house on the recommendations of the subsidy committee. The report has been aired and read by the house, we eagerly await the presidency for full implementation to prosecute those indicted by the report. In a society where high profile case of corruption such has the 2 Trillion naira fuel subsidy scam discovery, one would have expected a show of remorse from the culprits by voluntarily resigning their current appointments and maintain a low profile pending when further actions would be taken by the presidency and the anti-graft bodies. Surprisingly the reverse is the case; the cabals are even gathering more momentum to witch-hunt and torment Senator Saraki with corruption case that holds no water. Rather than bury their head in shame for committing the greatest criminal offence in the history of Nigeria. It would be recalled that sequence to the implementation of the 2011 budget, Saraki had moved a motion to investigate the current fuel subsidy management that has exposed the illegal affairs of some oil companies in the ongoing fuel subsidy investigation which ‘indicted’ the cabals. This move by Saraki was applauded by all and sundry who in recent times believed that trying to stop corruption is like collecting raindrops with both palms. The report findings have set him at war path with his political adversaries who are hell bent on soiling the good name he has jealously preserved over the years. They are appalled by the outcome of the report which signalled an era where corruption ceased to be treated with kid gloves. The game is up and their only consolation is to hound him down albeit with corruption charges that keeps re-surfacing whenever they are at war with his ideologies. If the Special Force Unit (SFU) claimed that the Invitation of Saraki was to assist it in tracing the waived 21 Billion Naira loan by intercontinental bank, then the ferocious desperation gone berserk to “forcefully arrest” in the face of requesting a court injunction justifies political victimization. However, since the SFU is interested in Joy Petroleum alone at the expense of 17 other companies, their inability to unmask the real owners of Joy Petroleum as a preamble for a genuine investigation will further aggravate a delay in justice while making false accusations the order of the day. In 2010 the CBN investigated this matter and it was laid to rest for lack of substance. The Banks made provision for the loans and has therefore not complained it recovered any loss in the wake of the transaction. One would begin to wonder if it is proper for a group of aggrieved persons to use an organ meant to prosecute the real criminals to oppress an individual for exposing their shady deals. Is it a punishable offence for one man to sacrifice the wishes of the collective, on the altar of ambitious material gain at the expense of good governance? It would be interesting to see if the SFU would allow itself to be used once again to perpetrate evil. The very quick invitation of the Police Special Fraud Unit at a time that government ought to be battling with the implementation of the House Of Representatives Committee reports will only undermine the government seriousness in winning the war against corruption. Government would be guilty of crime against humanity should the subsidy report die a natural death.

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