POLITICAL CRIMINALS SHOULD NOT GO UNPUNISHED

It is unthinkable that the former Speaker Bankole and his Deputy were involved with such huge sums of money that we now read about. If that is so, can anyone tell me why the Senate President David Mark and his Deputy should not be investigated even now on seat? Our polity must be rid of criminals.

It is still fresh in our minds how the former Delta State governor James Ibori called the shots with impunity during Umaru Yar’Adua’s tenure as if he was a saint. No sooner Yar’Adua died the bubble burst with former Attorney General of the Federation, Aondoakaa, becoming the first to fall and Ibori escaped with the aid of security and anti-graft agencies. EFCC boss, Farida Waziri, is now being revealed as Ibori’s lawyer when Ribadu held sway as the EFCC boss. 

We were all witnesses to the type of looting (N20billion recovered) from then sitting Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. What is the guarantee that all the past Police bosses did not enrich themselves more than Tafa Balogun? Even the sitting Police boss; a strong allegation was made against him that he was bribed with a whopping N500million by a south-south governor in order not to tamper with posting of the State’s Police Commissioner who probably together with other security agencies’ heads and INEC allegedly helped the governor to to rig election that is now under election tribunal investigations. The IGP should take the recent bombing of his headquarter as a sign that he should turn a new leaf in order that God’s wrath would not come upon him. He should be held responsible for provoking the Boko Haram attack on the Louis Edet House; when he was not ready he boasted that the sect has only ten days before being eradicated. Those ones reacted under two days thereafter and Ringim was saved by whisker.

What can one also say about former Imo Governor Ohakim, former Ogun Governor Daniel (though now back) and former Oyo Governor Akala – all ran away under the watchful eyes of the EFCC, the SSS, the Police and the ICPC as if we Nigerians are robots and do not have brain to perceive that only few crooks are being prosecuted while majority of the crooks are still walking the streets somewhere on this earth. These types of brazen looting of the treasuries by politicians are still on-going with most sitting governors hiding under immunity to continue with the impunity. Most politicians need go for psychiatric examination. 

There are dethroned governors like those of Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, and Edo who have never been asked to render account of their fraudulent stewardships. There are also some second term governors facing election tribunals and may be planning to escape; now the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies would not perfect their expected proactive stance.  

Chief Barnabas Osuanlele/Ikpoba Slope/Benin City/Edo State. barnabasosuanlele@yahoo.com.