President Tinubu and former President Buhari’s inevitable clash has come closer than either of them realises as a result of the suspension and subsequent arrest of the CBN governor. Buhari will soon realise that he had murdered sleep. He had hoped to enjoy a quiet retirement in Daura or the Niger Republic. The CBN investigation ordered by Tinubu will reveal to what extent Buhari and his cabal, including Ministers and Advisers, privatised the bank, barring the execution of Emefiele to silence him.
This is meant to warn Tinubu that if he truly wants to fight corruption, he could not have started in a better place. Since this is only a brief article, it is not my intention to reveal all the details of Constitutional violations. The first thing to consider is whether Tinubu has the guts to tread on everyone’s toes and damn the consequences. We’ll soon find out.
GOVERNMENT OF CONSCIOUSLY LYING FRAUDSTERS
Nothing that governments say should be believed because they are all run by liars. — American journalist I. F. Stone, 1907–1929.
My eyes were opened to the treachery of government officials around the world by Stone, a great American journalist. I’ve learned through writing these columns for the past 30 years how completely dishonest Nigerian government officials can be at all levels. But out of the seven governments in Nigeria that I have examined, Buhari’s is the one that has made lying a central tenet of their foreign policy. When lying is unnecessary and when the falsehood is clear to all, they do it.
The handover notes left behind by Buhari’s team will almost certainly contain terrible lies that were forced upon Nigerians by Tinubu’s appointees. They will be horrified by how dishonourable Honourable Ministers, Senior Special Advisers, and even the President himself can be. The point being made here is best illustrated by a current example. The country experienced unprecedented cash shortages as a result of the currency change. An order for the continued use of old notes was issued by a court of law. The CBN disobeyed the directive; initially, the President supported the bank until there was a risk of civil unrest. Nigerians’ money was stuck in banks for a few weeks. Only when the CBN was charged with contempt did relief arrive. According to a Buhari spokesman, his administration has always followed court orders. He conveniently overlooked the fact that Buhari had repeatedly broken the law by taking loans from the CBN for Ways and Means. For eight years, the Federal Government used the CBN as its own ATM. Later on, more on that… Money is the true test of honesty; power is the true test of integrity. Any president is put to the test on both sides. Buhari utterly failed in both.
ONE OF TWO MAJOR PROBLEM AREAS FOR CBN
You’ve come to the right place if you’re looking for trouble.
In the Wild, Wild West era, a bar’s entrance sign in Kansas City, United States.
Nigerians are now aware that the Buhari administration willfully disregarded the country’s laws and constitution by obtaining N23.7 trillion in loans from the CBN without first seeking approval from the National Assembly, or NASS, which was stuffed to the gills with spineless and unpatriotic individuals. Ways and Means was not the only thing. There were other known instances of presidential lawlessness, where funds designated for a more advantageous use were taken out and spent without a receipt. Here’s one illustration:
WHEAT LEVY RAID
‘ISSUE 14: REPEATED WITHDRAWALS FROM PUBLIC FUNDS (=N60,832,040,370.72)’
No money may be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation unless it is done so in accordance with the National Assembly’s guidelines, according to Section 80(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). The Financial Regulation also states in paragraph 417 that expenditures must be strictly categorised in accordance with estimates and that votes may only be used for the purposes for which funds have been provided. An incorrectly charged expense will not be accepted.
According to the Constitution and Financial Regulation, “the amount of N13,775,687,264.39 was taken out of the Consolidated Revenue Pool Account, and N47,056,353,106.33 was taken out of the 15% Wheat Grain Levy for purposes other than those for which the funds were established.
Even Buhari, who has a limited educational background, would be expected to comprehend those straightforward constitutional and financial regulatory provisions. In any case, his Vice President is a Senior Advocate and a Professor of Law; he also has a Minister of Justice and an Attorney General who are both, regrettably, SANs. In addition, his underwhelming cabinet includes at least three SANs. Therefore, Buhari cannot claim ignorance when he directed the Governor of the CBN to disburse money from the Wheat Levy Pool Account for “the payment of earned allowance to non-teaching staff of Nigerian Universities (N8,000,000,000); “to finance 2019 recruitment of Police Officers approved by Mr President (N9,056,353,106.33); and “funds borrowed from special account for eventual release to MOD [Ministry of Defence] procurement of Military Equipment (N30,000,000,000).” AUDITOR-GENERAL FOR THE FEDERATION’S ANNUAL REPORT ON THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2019).
Since a fish rots from the head, I have gone to great lengths to demonstrate how the massive corruption that plagued the Federal Government from 2015 to 2023 had its roots in the President’s office specifically. Contrary to the falsehoods propagated by his spokespeople, Buhari was a notorious serial offender. The Wheat Levy was put in place to encourage our wheat production self-sufficiency and lower the cost of our food imports. As we have seen, Buhari illegally forced the CBN to release funds from that account for other uses, as shown by evidence that is beyond a reasonable doubt. abuse of authority. He submitted the request without the NASS’s consent. financial rule violation. Additionally, he purposefully concealed all of the transactions from the NASS, which asked no questions. No one is able to explain how the N30 billion released to the MOD was used at this time.
CBN Governor Emefiele was given immunity in order to hide this and thousands of other shady conspiracies between Buhari and CBN. The Auditor General’s inquiries were dismissed. Leaders of the NASS were trained to “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” about Buhari – despite the unpleasant odour of monstrous corruption. Summons by the NASS were treated with well-deserved contempt.
TEMPTING THEM AND PUSHING THEM
And don’t lead us astray; instead, protect us from evil.
I don’t know Emefiele well enough to say whether he recited the Lord’s prayer as part of his morning devotions or even if he did. He is undoubtedly desiring to be freed from the bad that has befallen him. I sincerely supplicate for him. He was tempted very early in the Buhari administration. In the absence of a cabinet, when the FG established the Economic Management Team, or EMT, with Vice President Osinbajo as Chairman, Emefiele allowed himself to be seduced into the creation of fiscal policy. One of the earliest fraud schemes, the Anchor Borrowers Programme, or ABP, was born out of that association. A fiscal policy initiative that the CBN was directly funding for the first time in history quickly became politicised and corrupted. As a result of falling into the ABP trap, the CBN Governor received presidential immunity. He was unaffected by anything he did. He eventually became involved in severe Ways and Means violations, and the debt eventually reached an unbelievable N23.7 trillion. The Buhari cabal believes that he is currently dealing with the issue on his own.
However, it won’t be as easy as Tinubu imagines to question Emefiele, who is to some extent a victim of his own ambitions and departure from the roles of a central bank Governor. Emefiele carried out the directives given by Buhari. The probe that was ordered will eventually show that Buhari had a hand in most of the violations.
The Wheat Levy is merely a prelude to what’s to come. Anyone anticipating Emefiele to fall by himself is in for a surprise. He is too knowledgeable, and he is not alone.
FINALLY, EL-RUFAI IN HIS TRUE COLOURS
“You don’t always get paid for intelligence; stupidity costs you dearly.”
El-Rufai’s statements, according to one northern Christian leader, “constitute a slap in the face for Christians who voted for him.”
I respectfully object. Any Christian who supported El-Rufai is deserving of everything that happens to them, including kidnapping and murder. I warned Christians about him in three articles. Those who were ignored shouldn’t whine…
