Corruption, not judiciary under attack – Presidency

•  As Tsav praise Buhari

The Presidency has assured that the President reserves his highest respect for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government.

To this end, the President will not do anything to undermine its independence.

This was the submission of Mallam Garba Shehu the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Public Communication.

He explained that President Buhari remains a committed democrat, in words and in his action, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.

Emphasizing that the recent surgical operation against some judicial officers is specifically targeted at corruption and not at the judiciary as an institution.

He also alluded to the fact that in a robust democracy such as ours, there is bound to be a plurality of opinions on any given issue, but there is a convergence of views that the country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected.

He expressed the take of the Presidency on reports by a section of the media which he said gives cause for concern.

He admonishes the media to adhere strictly to the task of reporting, the media should be careful about the fault lines they open. It is wrong to present this incident as a confrontation between the executive and judicial arms of government.

The Presidency has received assurances from the DSS that all due processes of the law, including the possession of search and arrest warrants were obtained before the searches.

To suggest that the government is acting outside the law in a dictatorial manner is to breach the interest of the state.

In a related development an elder statesman and a former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has labeled anyone complaining about the leadership style of President Muhammadu Buhari as an enemy of the country.

According to Tsav, Nigerians needed a leader like Buhari who was capable of leading the nation out of the mess caused by the previous administration.

Tsav was apparently reacting to a recent call by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Buhari to resign for allegedly “destroying” the economy.

He said in a critical time like this, Nigeria “needs a leader like President Buhari to restructure Nigeria. The policies made so far, as well as anti- corruption crusade are needed tonic to get out of the problems we have found ourselves.

“Those complaining now are enemies of Nigeria. In a situation like this, before we get things right, there must be pangs of inconvenience and thereafter there is light at the end of tunnel. That is why I am appealing for patience, because everything will soon be right.”

On the way forward from the economic quagmire, the outspoken former police boss said, “The way out is to continue to honour those who served this nation so as to boost the morale of Nigerians and encourage dignity of labour. But not to heap praises on those looters who have destroyed the country.

“Also, let the present administration strengthen the anti-corruption agencies to deal with all those corrupt leaders.

“Let me emphasise that President Muhammadu Buhari is doing the best thing in this direction and I appeal to Nigerians to be patient with him because the rot had been too much and to fix it will take a long time. But I think we are in a better hand to get out of the mess, which the past administration has thrown us into.”

He added that the whole problem with Nigeria today “started when military took over on flimsy excuses that the then politicians were corrupt. This was the narrative the military used to rubbish the then politicians.

“Whereas, these people were trained under the colonial masters and they have moral value; highly disciplined, honest, selfless service were the hallmark of this set of people.”