From Fred Itua, Abuja
South-South Emerging Leaders’ Forum (SELF), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sustain his anti-corruption policy by supporting an aspirant without records of fraud among all the contenders for the position of national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Forum said President Buhari’s major legacy after 2023 should include his successor and those that will emerge the leadership of his party are not indicted by any anti-corruption agency.
In a statement Sunday in Abuja, the national coordinator of the Forum, Preye Wilson, challenged Northern political elites not to support a corrupt Southern politician as President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.
Wilson said his Forum has taken it upon itself to help the President identify credible national chairmanship candidates among the eleven aspirants jostling to lead the ruling party.
According to Wilson, a challenge has been thrown to the North to also ensure that only a credible and corruption-free presidential aspirant from the South is supported.
The statement declared that only Senator Sani Musa, currently representing the Niger East Senatorial district of Niger state could be trusted as a corruption-free national chairmanship candidate.
The South-South forum urged the President and all the APC leaders to reward the Niger Senator not only for his contributions to the party but as a good ambassador of the ruling party and the anti-corruption stance of the Buhari-led administration.
The Forum said in the statement: “As a forum, we are mindful of what becomes the anti-corruption fight of Buhari’s administration after the President might have left in 2023. We are also mindful of legacies our amiable President will leave behind in terms of a successor and those who lead the ruling party.
He said: “It is a known fact that corruption is contagious and it spreads like a virus that must be avoided. It spreads faster than cancer, if a corrupt or any indicted person is allowed to lead the ruling party one wonders how it will be easy to lead an anti-corruption campaign henceforth.
“It is a fact that all the contenders are qualified to be APC national chairman in terms of their political experiences but integrity should be the yardstick and not how long one has been in politics or positions such individuals have held in the past.
“We have, however painstakingly studied the records of all the prominent eleven aspirants that are jostling for the position of APC national chairman and we can only beat our chests for the senator representing Niger East at the Red Chamber, Muhammed Sani Musa, aka 313.
“We, therefore, challenge other reputable organisations like ours to cross-check this fact and also do their separate due diligence in terms of corruption records of all those currently seeking endorsement to lead the APC.”
