The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Thursday said the federal government cannot overlook the depth of rot in Nigeria including the false asset declaration charge currently being faced by the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.
The national leader added that the federal government, the APC and all the institutions “cannot personalise a lot of things (referring to Saraki’s trial) as if it was vendetta,” saying it was part of the development of the country.
Tinubu made the remark after observing the Sallah, prayer at Dodan Barracks, Ikoyi where he prayed alongside the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu and the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, among others.
At an interaction with journalists, the national leader cited his travail two weeks after he left office as the governor of Lagos State, explaining how he was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to answer some questions bordering on his years in office.
He said: “After they discovered that my asset declaration had some questions, they charged me to the tribunal. I went and challenged them to show proofs. I was later discharged and acquainted because there was no evidence to prove their claim. It is only then I accused the government of being selective.
“We have to live by example and by our words. We can’t be talking about it alone. We have to work it without any iota of blackmail. I have been through it. The second week I left office, I was invited by the EFCC. I went there and answer their questions. Later, I took them to court and I won.
“The government officials are almost no longer believable in this country. When one has a public responsibility, they look at it as if the source of wealth to steal and mismanage public funds and do things that are not included in the democratic norms and values,” the national leader explained.
He therefore said it was not what he “hasn’t personally experienced before. It is part of the development of the nation. We cannot overlook a lot of things. We cannot personalise a lot of things as if it is vendetta. We have to endure, be patient, look for justice, equity and balance society.”
He explained diverse challenges in terms of insecurity, economy, corruption and change of orientation, noting that what “is missing is patriotism and dedication to God. We need to put Nigeria first and do the right thing.”
He lamented that the clerics yearly “talk about sacrifices and perseverance of people. But if we want people to persevere, from the top to the bottom, we have to demonstrate as leaders that we are very serious about nation building too. Corruption must be fought and selfishness be discarded.
“Then we have to do the right thing for the country to improve. The message is the same message, make sacrifice, be compassionate and be tolerant of others. Build citizenship and not ethnicity and tribalism. Build a new foundation for the country to achieve its potential.
“We talk about the potential of Nigeria, but where are we, when one look, at a country like India? They do not have oil, but they were able to build an economy for themselves that is thriving today and creating employment for the youths.
“We want everything free, but we have not put emphasis on the training of our youths and retraining of our teachers to put education in the forefront of investment that is necessary for this country.
“We still believe that education is a weapon against poverty. To achieve it, we have to rededicate ourselves and make those sacrifices in order to lift the country out of poverty.
Our leaders are called upon to look compassionately at the suffering masses and create the demand locally and diversify our economy.
“Go through at once and have a nation that we will all be proud of. Develop citizenship that will be blind to the tribe or ethnicity but believe in character. It is worrisome that when we go out of this country, when we meet ourselves outside the country, we embrace one another but immediately we arrive the country, we revert to ethnicity. We have to develop a new character and new nation.”
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