Sometime last month, Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu and his media aide, Victor Oluwadamilare got engaged in a dirty public fight where it was revealed that the minister has failed to pay his aides for about 28 months – being the duration they had been working with him – while living in opulence. But the interesting part of the spat was the allegation by the aide that within a space of 29 months in office, Mr Shittu has acquired 12 luxury houses in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan and just bought a brand new N93 million printing press. Mr Oluwadamilare also alleged that the Shittu bought over 25 luxury vehicles for himself, his family members, concubines, and cronies, despite having eight official vehicles attached to his office, sponsored no fewer than 22 members of his family and cronies, including under-aged children, on Muslim pilgrimages in Saudi Arabia, and has utilised his position to embark on endless travels where he rakes in millions of naira in travel expenses and estacodes.
No doubt these are weighty allegations which should not be swept under the carpet but thoroughly investigated by the government and anti-corruption agencies. But the government and anti-corruption agencies, so far, have been conspicuously silent over the allegations. It follows a well-established pattern by the Buhari administration to shout to high heavens over alleged corrupt acts of the opposition but maintain loud silence over alleged corrupt act by its personnel. The rationale is to say and do nothing and allow the allegation fizzle out with time like others before it. Where that is not possible, the president himself, quickly and without investigation, absolves officials of his government accused of corruption. We remember the grass-cutting former Secretary to the Government of the Federation who was indicted for corruption by the Senate but was absolved by the president. It was a thoroughly embarrassed president that was finally forced to suspend and later remove Lawal when the case against him became all too glaring and indefensible.
We recall how the president has treated corruption allegations against the key members of his kitchen cabinet such as General Tukur Burutai, Chief of Army Staff, who was accused of having offshore investments, particularly in Dubai way above his legitimate earnings; General Abdulrahman Dambazau, Minister of Interior and former Chief of Army Staff, accused of having investments in real estate in the US worth more than $3 million and Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President accused of demanding and taking a bribe of N500 million naira from a telecommunications company to mitigate the fine imposed on it by the federal government.
We also recall how the Presidential panel set up to probe arms procurement between 2007 and 2015, and whose reports were being used to prosecute past military chiefs was hurriedly disbanded the moment it began moves to investigate the tenure of the Present National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno as Chief of Defence Intelligence between July 2009 and September 2011. The curious reason given by the government for its dissolution was that it has outlived its usefulness.
This selective application of anti-corruption laws will only serve to politicise the anti-corruption war and present it as a persecution of political opponents. This can be seen with the derision that greeted the federal government’s publication of a list of looters of our commonwealth.
The allegations against Mr Shittu must not be swept under the carpet. We demand that the anti-corruption agencies, particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, conduct a thorough investigation into all the allegations levelled against Mr Shittu. A government that is concerned about its image will not even allow Mr Shittu remain in office while the allegations against him are being investigated.
