Nigeria’s President, retired Major-General Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of obtaining the presidency under false pretenses in violation of section 419 of the nation’s criminal code.
United States-based Nigerian-American Physician and Co-author, Nigerian National Anthem, Dr. Sota Omoigui made the accusation on Monday, in a document titled: Arise O Compatriots And Save Your Country – A Political Manifesto – Part 1, which he circulated to the media.
Dr. Omoigui premised his accusation on the fact that Buhari came into office in 2015 under the mantra of an anti-corruption crusader, but seven years later corruption has been more entrenched in the system.
“President Buhari won his initial election in 2015 under the mantra of an anti-corruption crusader. Seven years later, it is obvious to the country and the world, that President Buhari obtained the presidency under false pretenses – a violation of section 419 of the Nigerian criminal code.”
“The signs were clear before the inset of his administration as he was brought to power by corrupt men, was surrounded by and appointed corrupt men as his ministers, endorsed corrupt men in the highest echelons of his political party and pardoned the most corrupt of men – two former governors from his ruling party who stole billions of naira of their peoples commonwealth.”
Dr. Omoigui described the Buhari Administration as a cesspool of iniquity. His words: “President Buhari famously stated: I belong to nobody but yet I belong to everybody. . . Seven years later, it is obvious to the country and the world, that President Buhari obtained the presidency under false pretenses.”
He also accused Buhari of unparalleled demonstration of a level of ethnoreligious bigotry, nepotism, provincialism and a tolerance of terrorists, bandits and kidnappers, never before seen in anyone who has ruled the country.
Nigeria, he bemoaned, is in dire straits, hindered and brought to its knees by a lack of accountability and corruption with impunity in all branches of government in the executive, legislative and judiciary, and at all levels – Federal, state, local government.
Dr. Omoigui said, with dismay that the cancer of corruption has metastasized to the parastatals and the private sectors. “Since independence, Nigeria has continued an inexorable slide backwards in all indices of human development,” he noted.
“Our youth die in the desert and in the sea trying to escape hopelessness and lack of opportunity in our country. Those left behind see the greed, looting and pillaging by their leaders, have no opportunities for economic empowerment and resort in internet scams, and fraud, prostitution, banditry and kidnapping to make ends meet.”
“Thus innocent people both inside the country and globally are made to pay the price for the corruption of our leaders. We have no other country.”
He called for collective efforts to turn Nigeria away from the precipice of disaster, saying: “And we need to do it now. Our population increases by 7.2 million a year and we are projected by the United Nations Population Division to be the third most populous country on earth, with a population of 730 million, –right behind China – by the year 2100.
“To modify a phrase from Yakubu Gowon, our leader during the civil war – To save Nigeria now is a task that must be done. The salvation of Nigeria starts by implementation of this manifesto.”
The revolution of the almajiris in the North, he continued, “is upon us,” and that the banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and terrorism are a consequence of 50 years of abuse, neglect and abandonment.
He added that education, healthcare, roads, pipe borne water were not provided in their communities, while the political elites looted, pillaged and gorged themselves of the commonwealth of the people.
“Infrastructure was not provided. No means of economic empowerment was provided. Those little children from 50 years ago are now the monsters that we have created – the uneducated grownups with uneducated children that constitute the beggars, area boys, prostitutes, petty and hardened criminals, drug dealers, armed robbers, kidnappers, herdsmen, terrorists, many of whom are available recruits for Boko Haram, ISWAP and more to come.
“If corruption can kill Nigeria, as declared by President Buhari, then aiding and abetting corruption should be a treasonable felony.
“The 1999 constitution that granted state governors immunity and granted legislators the power to set their own pay and allowances as well as constituency projects to execute, institutionalized corruption and is nothing short of a road map to perdition and a failure of the state,” he said.
Dr. Omoigui regretted that Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies, including the EFCC and ICPC consist of nothing less than medicine after death.
These agencies, he alleged have been corrupted and now weaponized against political opponents of the federal government and called for a thorough cleaning and reset of those agencies.
Dr. Omoigui’s paper is not just about criticism, but contains bundles of ideas to proffer solutions to the nation’s multifarious problems, the full text of which is in our opinion page. Click here to read.
