The alarm raised by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, concerning leaked plans by the Federal Government through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to plant large sums of money in different foreign and local currencies as well as ammunitions in a property linked to him; with intent to frame him up has exposed certain weaknesses in the anti corruption war of the Federal Government.

This was contained in a statement issuedon Thursdayin Onitsha bytheInternational Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law (Intersociety) signed by its Board Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi; Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Programme, Obianuju Joy Igboeli; Head, Democracy & Good Governance Programme, Chinwe Umeche; and Head, Campaign & Publicity Department, Florence Akubilo.

Intersociety described as not only weighty and alarming, but also a vindication ofits recent advocacy positions concerningwhat it calledmafia like policy and conductsof the (President Muhammadu) Buhari administration under the guise ofanti corruption crusade.

Intersociety said: “We had as far back as September 2015, via our advocacy statement, dated 1^stSeptember 2015, identifiedthree terminal sicknesses haunting the Buhari administration’s anti corruption.We had then identified and still identify them asmoral deficiency/burden, selective application/vendetta and misguided approach.Till date, the anti corruption policy of the Buhari administration is yet to recover from thethree terminal sicknesses.

“The Buhari Administration, peopled till date, by somedoyens of corruptionincludingtheir lawyers and technical partners, who now serve asmembers of the Executive Council, Legislators or technical advisers/supporters (i.e. human rights lawyers and CSO leaders);has since its inception in 2015 targeted for destruction, several persons who have toiled for several decades to build their character, integrity and personality. In the case of others who circumstantially have a case to answer in graft related cases, the present Federal Government got procedures and processes messed up by resorting to acute vindictiveness and other extra judicial violent methods instead of due process and rule of law.

“The late night of 8^thOctober 2016 humiliation and frame up of some serving high court, appellate court and apex court judges and justices particularly Hon. Justice Ademola Adeniyi and his wife is a clear case in point. The said Judge and his Wife, who is the current Head of Service of Lagos State and their succeeding generations, will never forget to remember themafiocraticcommando operationcarried out by the Buhari Administration using its SSS, which took place in the late night of 8^thOctober, 2016 duringtheir half-nakednight rest. The damage done to the duo’s priceless character and name will never be forgotten and forgiven in decades to come.

“As if that was not enough, the Buhari administration has further corrupted anti corruption war in Nigeria and vowed to single out the country’s scarcestsocial saintsand get them destroyed at all costs. To Buhari administration,it is a taboo to be a public office holder in Nigeria and decide not to steal legitimately or illegitimately.It is the unholy policy of the Buhari administration, too, that anybody who finds himself or herself in the position of authority in Nigeria or any part thereof must steal or be publicly rubbished and shamed using planted monies, ammunitions and other incriminating items.

“Another shocking part is the involvement of some traditional and online media mostly of South-west origin which are recklessly and brazenly hired or used by some criminal elements serving under the Buhari administration. These, the present Federal Government erroneously and deceitfully taggedwhistle blowers.They are hired or used anytime the Government criminally deems it fit through its assigned security establishment or allied agency (i.e. Police or SSS or EFCC) to legitimise and canonise through false reporting, of odd acts of the Government such as planting of loot funds and incriminating items like ammunitions; targeted at roping in or framing up marked enemy citizens or State enemies. Such false or cooked up news when arranged is designed asbreaking news or exclusive news reports.

“We had in our two recent advocacy statements, dated 16^thand 24^thApril 2017, declared that monies said to have been‘discovered and recovered’from some places and dwelling houses in Nigeria are mired in utter crookedness and bedeviled by criminal and dishonest intents by those behind their‘discovery and recovery’. We have also subjected thediscovered and recoveredmonies and circumstances of theirdiscovery and recoveryto criminological forensic analyses and found everything associated with same to be utterly dubious, mischievous, illegitimate, unlawful, unconstitutional, immoral; ill conceived and ill motivated. That is to say that the monies said to have been discovered and recovered have serious question marks and failed severalrepugnancy tests.

“The most shocking of it all is the role of Vice President, Mr. Yemi Osibanjo, who is a professor of law and‘Pastorof acclaimed Holy Spirit inspired Pentecostal Church’in Nigeria.He also holds a non academic title of Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (SAN). At his inaugural swearing in, he wittingly and willingly submitted himself and his conscience to be administered with hallowed‘oaths of honesty, integrity and moral decency’.Judging from his present character disposition, we are morally compelled to state that the Vee Pee that was packaged before most Nigerians way back in 2014/2015 asa social saint and upright manhas woefully failed ourrepugnancy and morality tests.

“Apart from his questionable appointment aschair of Presidential Probe Panel on ‘Ikoyi Planted Billions’, the Vee Pee is most likely aware conscientiously or morally thatthe ‘Ikoyi Planted Billions’was indeed planted by the Presidential cabal to rope in its enemy target(s), which bounced back and misfired; yet the Vee Pee as chair of the said Probe Panel is still going ahead magisterially with the laughable and legally groundless probe to possibly find an escape route to cover up thePresidential Messby hang it on the same escapedenemy targetsor around the neck ofan enemy withinwith possibly retroactive course of action (i.e. legitimising the false theory of the money belonging to NIA as part of its own share of 2015 election campaign or security funds given to them by former President Goodluck Jonathan) asa damage control.If the latter sails through in the form ofprobe panel findings;then the suspended NIA boss and his foot soldiers will finally be used as sacrificial lambs with the false giver of the funds directly targeted for humiliation and regime vindictiveness.

“Shockingly and surprisingly, it was Hon. Justice Ademola Adeniyi and his innocent wife in October 2016; Andrew Yakubu in February 2017; Pastor Johnson Suleiman-Stephanie Otobo Scandal (most likely planted and sponsored from Kaduna State) in March 2017; Kaduna Airport, Balogun Market and Lagos Bureau de Change crookedly recovered millions of March and April 2017; Ikoyi billions of 12^thApril 2017; and fresh billions and ammunitions plantings, planned to be explodedtomorrowbeing 6^thof May 2017, with Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu as the prime target; but which got leaked and exposed yesterday, 4^thMay 2017.

“The real motives and prime targets of the litany of plantings by their planters had earlier been officially but partly revealed by the Anambra State Branch of the All Progressives Congress in its recent public statement in which it wickedly linked the Ikoyi Billions to former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State. It specifically asked him to return from his US trip and take public and criminal responsibility of the monies planted at Osborne Towers at Ikoyi.

“Further analysis of the Anambra APC’s statement clearly indicates that former Governor Peter Obi may most likely be one of, if not the prime target of the planted but misfired monies at Osborne Towers in Ikoyi where he rented an apartment and stays since he handed over to Governor William Obiano as the Anambra Governor in March 2014.

“It is so sad and shocking that public governance in Nigeria has descended so low, gravely and dangerously to the extent of falling into the hands ofmafiocratsand gangsterswho parade themselves aspublic office holders and political actors.It is also so sad that Nigeria now operates a system that rewards serial looters and political nincompoops and demonise those who vowed not to be found morally wanting in art of public governance by restricting themselves to their legitimate earnings, living and life contentment even when opportunities are easily at their legitimate and illegitimate disposals to corner, divert, pocket, misapply, misappropriate, loot, pillage and plunder trailer loads of public funds.

“If it is in another social clime like Republic of Malaysia, the likes of Peter Obi would be worshipped and celebrated immortally particularly in area of use of available and sourced public resources for public good and tremendous social and human transformations. If it is to be in the same Malaysia, many universities, university colleges and polytechnics would have scrambled for him to be become their visiting lecturers. Many would have awarded him honorary doctorate degrees without demanding a dime from him or asking him to build a state-of-art hostel or building for him to be awarded such honorary degrees. If it is to be in Europe or Americas, he would have been made visiting professors of some of their universities.

“Truly and conscientiously speaking, in the history of our social and rights advocacy activities in Nigeria starting from the yoke era in the Civil Liberties Organization in late 90s, we have never come across any state Governor in Nigeria that vowed and maintained a stance in socio-economic prudence and personal restraints and sacrifices for the purpose of salvaging his or her state and its people. Anambra State under former Governor Peter Obi recorded a governance feat it never recorded since Jim Nwobodo civilian administration in the 1980s.

“The state under the Obi got 95% of its serving and retired workforce arrears and that of its LGAs liquidated; refused to borrow and got its existing local and foreign debts reduced to only N11.3 billion from its previous level of over N40 billion; got over N75 billion cash and investments left; experienced the highest number of constructed roads and bridges; procured and distributed the highest number of vehicular to various government establishments and other social institutions; and carried out tremendous and enormous social and infrastructural developments and transformations across the state including public and private schools and hospitals, etc. It is also a truism that no State in Nigeria, not even Lagos, Delta and Rivers States; has experienced this type of transformative governance since 1999; without mortgaging itself in serial indebtedness and legitimized and illegitimatelootery-mania.

“It has also never been heard in recent times in Nigeria that an immediate past Governor of a State like Anambra is a tenant in Lagos and Abuja; when immediate former governors like him including those of Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Kwara States, their northern colleagues, etc, got their Houses of Assembly to approve hundreds of millions of naira including state-of-art houses and other bogus entitlements in choice cities in Nigeria including Lagos and Abuja. Two houses officially built for the immediate past governor of Lagos State in choice places in Lagos and Abuja is up to, if not over N1Billion, which can construct 10-15kilometers of road in Anambra and Lagos States.

“Yet, in spite of all these sacrifices and personal restraints by scarcest moralist and conscientious Nigerians who refused to have their hands tied and soiled and their consciences mortgaged; the present central Government in Nigeria that is gripped bymafiocracyand kleptocracy;is sworn and bent on sinking thegood, the bad and the uglyin its infamous project ofwelcome tolooteryrepublic of Nigeria: a land of corruption and immorality.

“We therefore commend the Deputy Senate President for speaking out and confirming the above mentioned earlier advocacy positions of ours concerning the three sicknesses haunting the anti corruption policy of the present central Government in Nigeria.

“We further urge the Deputy Senate President to disclose to the generality of Nigerians the names ofthe local and international media masquerading or being used falsely by the current governmental establishment as whistle blowers;which he mentioned in his parliamentary floor alarm of yesterday being 4^thMay 2017. The DSP must come clean and remain steadfast at all times and stay aware from dirty acts capable of counting him amongthe present brigade, if not battalion of corrupt and immoral people in the corridors of power or position of authority in Nigeria.”