President Buhari under pressure to move against oil thieves
Pressure is mounting on
President Muhammadu Buhari to kick start his clampdown on oil thieves
following his recent admission that he now has in his possession a list
of such thieves.
Buhari, addressing Nigerians during his
just concluded trip to the United States, had announced that Washington
gave him the list.
He said that some members of the Jonathan Federal
Executive Council stole as much as 250000 barrels of crude daily.
Several Western countries including
the United Kingdom and France are said to have reached out to him to
waste no further time in bringing the suspects to book.
Nigerians are also itching to know the identities of the oil thieves .
A cross section of prominent Nigerians say President Buhri should make the names public forthwith and prosecute them.
Frontline lawyer,Professor Itse Sagay (SAN) told The Nation yesterday that he shocked by the magnitude of the stealing.
“Before this fresh revelation, one was
very disturbed when Okonjo Iweala, raised the alarm that about 400, 000
barrels were being stolen every day. To hear that the quantity is as
much as one million barrel per day is something else,” he said.
“It shows the country went into a total
rot under the last regime of President Goodluck Jonathan. They would
have looted the country to bankruptcy within a year if they were not
removed from office. We should be grateful that a disciplined and
upright man has taken over to clean the mess and save the country.
“The punishments are not farfetched. They are already enshrined in our law books.
“We may ultimately have to resort to
special court with specific time frame to decide the cases. The
situation is very grave and we need to deal with it in an exceptional
way.”
Also shocked by the revelation is Chief
Ladi Williams (SAN) who said: “the President should make public
everything about it because the oil they stole belongs to the good
people of Nigeria. The people have the right to know what is happening.
“Some schools of thought have
suggested that the Chinese option should be applied in dealing with the
suspects. It is a common knowledge that corrupt public officers in
China always end up being executed. But here in Nigeria, we have the
criminal and penal code. The suspects should be tried.
“The National Assembly has the power to
establish a tribunal to try the suspects because the courts have too
many cases already. From the tribunal, the next step should be Supreme
Court because many of us are not happy with the way the Appeal Court has
discharged itself. The Supreme Court has discharged itself creditably
well.
“The suspects should be made to produce
the money they realised from the sales of the stolen products. Any of
them that parts with a substantial part of the money should be leniently
dealt with.”
Elder statesman Tanko Yakassai
said:“The president should not only tell us about the crime, he should
go a step further to list the names of those involved in the criminal
act and the amount involved. He should get them arrested and
prosecuted. The truth is that these atrocities didn’t start today. They
started way back when Obasanjo was the head of state.
“Key figures during that regime became
instant multi-millionaires. There is not going to be any solution to the
atrocities except the perpetrators are brought to book. I want to
appeal to President Muhhamadu Buhari not to limit the probe to the
Jonathan administration. If he really wants to get to the root of the
problem, he should go back to the days of Obasanjo as military head of
state.”
Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria and
Second Republic politician, Enechi Onyia, said the suspects should be
made to face the wrath of the law.
“The government should not stop at that.
They should also do everything possible to retrieve the full value of
the money that the country ought to realize from the product from the
suspects. The government should not be swayed by sentiments that people
are likely to express about its position or action plan because in
everything that happens in life, people would always express
sentiments,” he said.
Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamio called
for prosecution of everyone found culpable in the crime, saying: “The
effort of the President in fighting corruption in the country is highly
commendable. This is what Nigerians looked forward to when they voted
for him and I am glad that he is living up to his electioneering
promises. I want to do everything possible to make sure that the
perpetrators do not escape justice.”
Former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Abubakar Tsav, expressed surprise at the revelation.
He said:“ “If the president’s statement
is true, then, it is a serious matter. How can one person steal such
quantity of crude oil? What are they using the money for when many
people are hungry, homeless and sleeping under the bridge?
“ The crime is capable of collapsing an
economy of a developing country. The perpetrators don’t mean well for
the country and should be severely dealt with.
“I don’t support death penalty, but the
offence is worth it. I will suggest that they should be sent to 25 years
or life imprisonment. If the suspects are not fished out and dealt
with, there would be a big challenge if Buhari is not re-elected after
four years. If Buhari is not elected and another government that is
worse than Jonathan’s come tom power, the country would be worse for it.
“If I were Jonathan, I would be ashamed
of myself and refrain from making any comment. I think he should also be
probed because it was before his very eyes that all this rots was
taking place and he did nothing to stop it.”
The Publicity Secretary of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State chapter, Joe Igbokwe, said more
sad revelations of the activities of government officials in the
Jonathan’s administration are coming.
According to him, “What Nigerians are
hearing and seeing now will be a child’s play when the full story of how
Nigeria was pillaged and plundered under Jonathan is told.
“In the fullness of time Nigerians will
get to find out that former President Jonathan’s tenure was a systematic
regime of heists. I am believing God that President Buhari will have
the energy, strength and power to go the whole hog in repositioning
Nigeria in the comity of civilized nations. Nigeria is getting better
and this, l believe because a good man is in charge.”
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