NO doubt about it, the North betrayed Goodluck Jonathan in
the last election. The greatest ally of the North in Nigerian
politics has been the South-South. Therefore, it was not
asking too much for Jonathan to expect the North to return
the favour under his administration; when he is clearly
carrying the mantle of the South-South.

Jonathan did not take Northern support for granted. In his
six years in office, he spent the overwhelming proportion of
resources at his disposal on the North. The $1 billion
Kashimbila Dam, one of the biggest projects handled by his
administration, is in Taraba in the North. Jonathan built over
150 Almajiri schools in the North. He revived Nigerian
agriculture, to the primary benefit of Northern farmers.

Most of Jonathan’s political appointees were Northern. He
entrusted a Northerner, Attahiru Jega, with INEC, bucking
the tradition whereby INEC chairmen tend to come from the
South-East. When the North complained about the Chief of
Army Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, Jonathan replaced him. When
the North complained about Festus Odimegwu at the National
Population Commission, Jonathan fired him. Nevertheless,
when the election time came, the North betrayed Jonathan
and the South-South
.
Northern PDP governors secretly worked for Buhari’s
victory. In Jigawa, Sule Lamido only paid lip-service to
Jonathan’s campaign. In Bauchi, Isa Yuguda watched as
Jonathan’s campaign train was stoned. In Niger, Babangida
Aliyu did not care that no Jonathan poster was placed
anywhere in the state throughout the campaign. The blunder
of these recalcitrant governors was in thinking they could be
lackadaisical about the PDP at the federal level, but
passionate about the PDP at the state level. They all ended
up losing their states to the APC.

Retracting on promises

In order not to scare off dodgy members of his party with
his anti-corruption rhetoric, Buhari promised to let corrupt
sleeping dogs lie if elected. APC party chairman, John Oyegun,
declared that Buhari would not waste time going after
embezzlers of public funds before 29th May, 2015. He said:
“The future of the people of this country is too important
for us to spend valuable time trying to dig into the past.”

But now that the election has been won, Buhari no longer
feels any obligation to keep his word. Instead, he said on TV
Continental that, unlike the Quran and the Bible, the APC
position during the election is subject to change. The signs
indicate that the APC is now inclined to engage in a vicious
propaganda campaign of maligning the Jonathan administration
and the South-South through mud-slinging probes.

Buhari now says he will revisit the issue of the allegedly
missing $20 billion from NNPC accounts. He said in Hausa to
his Northern constituency: “Imagine a situation where the
former CBN governor, who by God‘s grace, is now the Emir
of Kano, raised an issue of missing billions of money, not in
naira but in dollars, $20 billion. What happened, instead of
investigating whether it was true, they simply found a reason
to remove him.”

In short, in spite of the forensic audit of NNPC accounts by
the prestigious PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which concluded no
money was missing, Buhari has already declared Diezani and
the NNPC guilty and Lamido Sanusi innocent. He claims the
matter was not investigated, which means
PriceWaterhouseCoopers is not good enough for him. Who is
he now going to ask to conduct a new probe when we
already know the answer he wants?

Witch- hunting

What we have here is the beginning of a witch-hunt. One of
the first questions of interest is where Buhari’s oil minister is
going to come from. Within the context of the cynical view
that the insistence of a cabal that power must return to the
North is not unconnected to pending oil bloc allocations, the
question remains whether our new oil minister must also be
from the North.

In Nigeria, the FCT Minister is always from the North.
However, the oil minister is not always from the South. The
North has no oil, but it longs to control the lucrative oil
industry. Under Jonathan, oil minister Diezani Allison-Madueke
has come under prolonged attacks and harassment, not only
because she is a woman, but also because she is from the
South-South.

Under Yar’Adua, the Petroleum Minister, Dr Rilwanu Lukman
was from Kaduna. The Group Managing Director of the
NNPC, Sanusi Barkindo, was from Adamawa. The Director-
General of the National Petroleum Directorate, Alhaji Bello
Gusau, was from Zamfara. The Executive-Secretary of the
Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Mustapha Rabe
Darma, was from Katsina. Are we in for a Northernisation of
the oil industry again under Buhari?

If Buhari is now determined to probe the oil ministry under
South-South stewardship, contrary to his campaign promise; he
must also probe it under South-West stewardship. President
Obasanjo doubled as his own oil minister for eight years. If
Buhari is now going to probe Diezani, then he must probe his
new ally, Obasanjo, as well? Otherwise, if care is not taken,
Buhari’s war against corruption will quickly divide Nigeria
along ethnic fault-lines.

Once you decide to probe the Jonathan administration, the
Niger-Delta is going to insist on a probe of the Obasanjo
administration. Once you probe the PDP, which represents
Southern rule, there is going to be insistence that you probe
Northern rule. Should Buhari decide to probe NNPC, the issue
of his own tenure as petroleum minister and the 2.8 billion
saga will also be brought up. He cannot apply today the
discriminatory standard he used yesterday, whereby vice-
president Ekwueme languished in jail while president Shagari
relaxed under house arrest.

If our president-elect wants to stay true to his election
campaign promise, he should stick to the issue of passing the
Petroleum Industry Bill expeditiously, instead of opening the
Pandora’s Box of NNPC probes. He should also look into the
whole process of dismantling the NNPC itself, and selling it
off. Hankering after the past suggests the APC is bereft of
innovative policy ideas. Witch-hunting Diezani is no substitute
for lack of policy.

Press censorship

The first thing General Buhari did on seizing power in 1984
was to declare in a television interview his determination to
“tamper with the press.” The first thing he has done this time
around, even before being sworn in as president, was to
seek to impose a ban on the AIT. AIT is one of the press
houses that did not support him during the election campaign.
Moreover, it is owned by Raymond Dokpesi, a South-South
man.

History, they say, has a tendency to repeat itself. Those of
us who were adults during the first coming of General Buhari
took great pains to warn Nigerians of his antecedents. Those
too young to know about him were convinced we were
making up stories. Others denied the relevance of Buhari’s
pedigree. One man tweeted: “Even if PDP shows a video of
Tinubu and Buhari on AIT robbing the Central Bank of
Nigeria, it won’t change our minds.”

A cease-and-desist order on Buhari’s censorship of AIT came
thankfully from APC Central. Sane minds prevailed from the
party’s headquarters, mindful that any attempt to curb the
press this time around is likely to end Buhari’s honeymoon
with the media immediately. Suffice to say the press operates
everywhere as a tight union. Attack on one is deemed an
attack on all.

APC-friendly press houses had a field day maligning Jonathan
for over five years. No one tried to muzzle them. APC itself
came up with all sorts of lies. APC publicity secretary for
Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, wrote a libelous and defamatory
article against me entitled: “Behold the Wind Chaser called
Femi Aribisala.” Igbokwe claimed I am a registered member of
the PDP, which is false. Among other lies, he said: “In Osun
Femi and his robbery gang came with helicopters, guns,
bombs, jackboots, tanks etc. but ordinary people with bare
hands stopped their open robbery.”

I was not in Osun during the 2014 gubernatorial election. I
have no robbery gang. I have no helicopters, guns, jackboots,
or tanks. I could have sued Igbokwe for all he has got. But I
decided to let it pass. However, until called to order, our
president-elect seems inclined to use the apparatus of the
state to settle personal scores. This is a bad omen about his
incoming administration.

Election offenders

The same discrimination is already evident in the president-
elect’s stated position vis-à-vis election offenders. President
Jonathan was magnanimous enough to concede defeat in a
flawed election. But APC is not prepared to let sleeping dogs
lie. Despite now holding sway in 22 states to PDP’s 13, the
APC continues to cause trouble everywhere. Once it is not
declared the winner, the election must have been rigged.

The president-elect has joined the fray. He proclaimed his
determination to prosecute election offenders. But he only
enunciated this policy with reference states where APC is
currently disputing the results. Accordingly, he instructed the
governors of Edo, Imo and Rivers to document all offences
alleged to have been committed.

These states happen to be those with APC governors; and in
the South-South and South-East where the APC was routed.
Are we going to get corresponding prosecutions in cases in
the North, including the president’s home state of Katsina
where, surprise surprise, more ghost-voters came out of the
woodwork to vote in the lackluster governorship election
than in the high-profile presidential election?

Mr. President-elect should be reminded that he is going to be
president of all Nigerians; including especially those who did not
vote for him. He should be very careful how he treats the
South-South. Without a doubt, nerves are much frayed now in
that geopolitical zone; which also happens to be the economic
jugular of Nigeria
.
My advice to him, for what it is worth, is that he should
leave the sons and daughters of the South-South alone.
Thanks to President Jonathan, we have just missed the bullet
of the much anticipated post-election turmoil. This is no time
to start stepping injudiciously on South-South toes in the
name of anti-corruption. Upheaval in the South-South will be
far more economically devastating for Nigeria, and for his
vaunted presidential agenda, than what we have experienced
under the onslaught of Boko Haram.

http://ynaija.com/femi-aribisala-cease-desist-no-witch-hunts-south-south/

It is time to examine the suitability of Aribisala in one of our choice prisons, preferably located somewhere in the SS region.

nduchucks:
It is time to examine the suitability of Aribisala in one of our choice prisons, preferably located somewhere in the SS region.

Nay! He's entitled to his opinion even if they're crazy. That's the gift of democracy. You need to learn about it bro

gbl01:



Nay! He's entitled to his opinion even if they're crazy. That's the gift of democracy. You need to learn about it bro

Of course he is entitled to his opinion, just as I am entitled to mine. Note that one of the gifts of democracy is giving everyone to be accountable for their cimes if any. It is wise not to throw stones when you live in a glass house.

nduchucks:


Of course he is entitled to his opinion, just as I am entitled to mine. Note that one of the gifts of democracy is giving everyone to be accountable for their cimes if any. It is wise not to throw stones when you live in a glass house.

What exactly were his crimes? And who made you a judge or jury?

nduchucks:
It is time to examine the suitability of Aribisala in one of our choice prisons, preferably located somewhere in the SS region.

Said like a true Mumuharista! Just jail the opposition!

These guys really think they can dictate to GMB when and how to probe

Thank You Femi. For Buhari to probe the phantom $20b and the Petroleum Industry means he has to probe the FRCN indictment on Emir Sanusi. He has to probe the NNPC of 1977-1979, he had to audit NNPC account from 1999 to 2015, he has to probe PTF, he has to probe the $12b Oil Windfall of IBB, he has to probe the Abacha family, he has to probe Obasanjo spending of N1.3trn for electricity alone with nothing to show. He has to probe the PTDF allegation and indictment against obasanjo and Atiku. He has to probe the indictment against El Rufai while he hled sway as BPE boss and FCT Minister...There are lots of probes to be done. Baba we are waiting

gbl01:


What exactly were his crimes? And who made you a judge or jury?

His crime

1 Being stupid.
2 Being stupid and dumb
3 Being stupid, dumb and always writing idiotic articles
4 being stupid, dumb, writing idiotic stuffs and creating more stupid people.

His logic
Do not probe a thief because other thieves were not probed.

oduastates:


His crime

1 Being stupid.
2 Being stupid and dumb
3 Being stupid, dumb and always writing idiotic articles
4 being stupid, dumb, writing idiotic stuffs and creating more stupid people.

The only silly, dumb and idiotic stuffs are what you wrote. You should be his neighbour in the Prison then.

oduastates:


His crime

1 Being stupid.
2 Being stupid and dumb
3 Being stupid, dumb and always writing idiotic articles
4 being stupid, dumb, writing idiotic stuffs and creating more stupid people.

femi is like a virus in Nigeria. The fool hasn't written any important book because of his idiosyncratic attitude

gbl01:


What exactly were his crimes? And who made you a judge or jury?

Can you read, do you know what "if any" means?

nduchucks:


Can you read, do you know what "if any" means?

Lols! Permit me to ask if you have common sense

Curlieweed:


Said like a true Mumuharista! Just jail the opposition!

I was going to respond until I saw your idol plant in your profile. Now, run along.

gbl01:


Lols! Permit me to ask if you have common sense

You are not permitted, you are lucky I am no longer in uniform. We routinely arrest and put your likes in the guard room.

nduchucks:


You are not permitted, you are lucky I am no longer in uniform. We routinely arrest and put your likes in the guard room.

Now it's obvious you lack common sense and you're absolutely a total nonentity! Threatening someone behind your computer, go back to your black on black uniform work. Thou worse than a senseless thing

gbl01:


Now it's obvious you lack common sense and you're absolutely a total nonentity! Threatening someone behind your computer, go back to your black on black uniform work. Thou worse than a senseless thing

oga carry ya wahala go.

barcanista:
Thank You Femi. For Buhari to probe the phantom $20b and the Petroleum Industry means he has to probe the FRCN indictment on Emir Sanusi. He has to probe the NNPC of 1977-1979, he had to audit NNPC account from 1999 to 2015, he has to probe PTF, he has to probe the $12b Oil Windfall of IBB, he has to probe the Abacha family, he has to probe Obasanjo spending of N1.3trn for electricity alone with nothing to show. He has to probe the PTDF allegation and indictment against obasanjo and Atiku. He has to probe the indictment against El Rufai while he hled sway as BPE boss and FCT Minister...There are lots of probes to be done. Baba we are waiting

Seconded!

Any one wu say some1 shu b probed if some1 else is to be probedi is only trying to score political point and in effect aiding and abetting coruption. It is impossible to bring all thieves into book! Some people must serve as 'scape goat' in order to teach propective thieves a graet lesson.But the true is that if Buhari realy want to maintain his intgrity, he shu be very careful in order to avoid discrimatory and selective probe. I expect some apc member and northerners to be probed under GMB admins coz corruption is a viscious circle no assemlage or group of people is free of the social disease.

Femi Aribisala is an unrepentant ethnic jingoist. He even has the temerity to say the allegations leveled against Deziani is because she's from the south-south.

Madam Deziani supervised a very corrupt ministry, We can't forget the Fuel subsidy scam and kerosine subsidy scam so soon.