PDP: Jonathan Better than Predecessors in Fight against Corruption

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode

• Says Buhari surrounded by corrupt men

The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) yesterday claimed that President Goodluck Jonathan is better than his predecessors in office in the fight against corruption.

The campaign body further claimed that Jonathan has successfully plugged all loopholes which corrupt persons took advantages of to operate freely in the country.

The spokesman of the campaign team, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said in  statement issued yesterday in Abuja that the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, cannot fight corruption because he is  not only surrounded by corrupt men but also unable to give what he does not have.

According to Fani-Kayode, “more than any other president in the history of Nigeria, President Jonathan has fought corruption and has successfully plugged all the loopholes that allow corrupt persons to operate freely and with impunity in our country.

“His reforms in the agricultural sector with special reference to the new system for the procurement of fertiliser and his reforms in NNPC and the whole area of oil subsidies prove this. Millions of dollars have been saved in these areas alone as a consequence of Mr. President’s new and innovative initiatives.

“His focus is not just on arresting people without any credible evidence and parading them before television cameras in handcuffs. He believes in fighting corruption in a responsible, humane and credible manner with special emphasis on civil liberties, human rights and the rule of law.

“Unlike others that came before him, he believes that the fight against corruption should not be selective and neither does he believe in using the security agencies to intimidate or persecute innocent people or his perceived enemies.  This was not the case up until he became president and everyone knows this.

“With respect to General Buhari, it is clear to the discerning that he is the last person that can offer and deliver a credible and honest fight against corruption simply because the rule of law and due process are completely alien concepts to him. The truth is that the man belongs to the dark ages and he cannot rid himself of that mindset.

“The government that he led between 1983 and 1985 did not fight corruption but was, in fact, the biggest manifestation of corruption and abuse of power in the history of Nigeria. He jailed innocent people and sent many to their early graves for no just cause. He also applied retroactive legislation to kill people.

“Buhari says he now wants to fight corruption but the truth is that this is a contradiction because he is surrounded by some of the most corrupt, dishonest,  incompetent, irresponsible and perverse souls in Nigeria. Anyone that doubts this just needs to consider the names of some of those that are leading his party.

“A snake cannot give birth to a lion and a monkey cannot bake bread. Buhari cannot give what he does not have. He cannot fight corruption because he is surrounded by those that bask in it.  His latest song about fighting corruption does not make sense simply because his party is the greatest promoter of lies, deceit, doublespeak, dishonesty and subterfuge on the African continent.

“His promise to fight corruption must be taken with a pinch of salt and can best be described by Shakespeare’s famous words when he said ‘it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’.”