FROM: PAUL ORUDE, BAUCHI
A former Senate leader, Sen. Jonathan Silas Zwingina, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is standing alone in the fight against corruption as he is surrounded by doubtful officials.
Zwingina stated this at the weekend during the sensitisation workshop on the activities and achievements of President Buhari held at Zaranda Hotel, in Bauchi.
The former senate leader, who was the guest speaker at the occasion expressed fears over the success of the fight against corruption.
According to Zwingina, “It’s quite unfortunate that the President is surrounded by so many doubtful assistants.
“With the foot soldiers available to Mr President to fight the war against corruption, there are many cases where it appears that the President is alone in the fight against corruption.
“He is surrounded by so many doubtful assistants such that if he were to sack them, he would sack almost everybody, hence he is forced to manage what is available to him.
“It is also on record that some of the anti-corruption agencies are themselves not without some in house corruption suspects”
Zwingina also attributed Boko Haram insurgency that engulfed North East region as a result of corruption.
He said: “if corruption was not allowed to interfere in the system, there would have been no insurgency in the first instance”
He thereby stressed the need for all hands to be on deck to fight corruption to a stand-still in the country.
He continued: “We must support the war against corruption in order to climb higher in the anti-corruption index as well as free our economy and society from the cancer that has been overwhelmingly acknowledged as the main threat to our development”
Also speaking, an elder statesman and former minister of Special Duties during President Olusegun Obasanjos’ administration, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Kirfi , lauded the efforts of President Buhari in the tackling insurgency crisis in the North East.
Bello Kirfi who is the chairman of the occasion, said “Before the coming of this administration, we were very much affected by insurgency in the North East where thousands were killed, many displaced and properties worth millions of naira destroyed but today we can sleep with our two eyes closed”
The elder statesman therefore advised President Buhari to carry everybody along irrespective of party affiliations.
He said: “The President should remember that it was not APC that brought him to power but Nigerians voted for him hence the need to be President to all Nigerians and not APC alone.
In his welcome address, the convener of the event, who is the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) Political to the President, Rt Hon Gideon Stummani said the workshop was organized to showcase the achievements of the President in the last 2 years.
He enumerated some of the achievements as the President agenda against indiscipline and fight against corruption, N-Power Programme, Anchor borrowing, diversification of economy among others.
He stated further that President Buhari has restored Nigeria’s image abroad saying Nigerians are being respected all over the world as many international community are now willing to do business in the county without any fear or doubt.