Politics

Aso Rock war with Lamido hots up

Published

9 years ago

November 13, 2017

The presidency has described Jigawa’s former Governor Sule Lamido as intellectually and morally bankrupt for daring to criticise President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.

On Sunday, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu said the attacks by the PDP presidential aspirant “is a reflection of the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the opposition in the country.”

He worried over the “grand plan” by politicians seeking the destruction of national institutions, such as the courts, the EFCC, and everything good that the nation stands for.

“It is only in Nigeria that a leader will divert money belonging to the public into his children’s account and then turn round to start pontificating on public morals, in the process subjecting the nation’s honest leadership to daily attacks based on falsehood,” Sheu said.

“It is even worse that such a person, facing criminal prosecution, will start going round saying he wants to be President.

“Is this not one of the reasons why other countries are laughing at Nigeria? This is hooliganism. It is not opposition politics.”

He explained that the war against corruption as spearheaded by the EFCC was initiated by the past PDP administration., and it is ironcal that the leaders of the same party are doing their utmost to weaken it.

“Time and again, President Buhari lamented that strongmen destroyed the country’s strong institutions and that it will take strong men to rebuild them,” he added.

“He deserves the support of everyone to rebuild such institutions because they serve a common good.”

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Shehu also challenged Lamido to convince Nigerians that his attacks against the government and the judiciary are not a facade to hide his criminal prosecution.

“In his diatribe published in a national newspaper last week, it is clear that the former governor not only set out to mock the President but the judiciary and important national institutions as part of an orchestrated plot to divert public attention from his scam-related cases.

“If President Buhari’s war against corruption, as he said, is a mockery, what does one say of former governor Lamido’s sworn efforts to sabotage the country’s efforts to rid itself of the cancer of corruption?

“If accountability of public officials is the very essence of a mature democracy, it is, indeed, ironic that a politician seeking the leadership of the country is making a mockery of public institutions and the leaders seeking to entrench them.

“Nigeria settled for President Buhari as the watchman of their common wealth. The citizens are happy with that and the whole world is applauding.

He reminded Lamido that the African Union just named Buhari as the champion of the war against corruption., and politicians like Lamido need to come to terms with the fact that their act needs updating.