Over the past few days, there have been commendations in different quarters over the suspension of the embattled Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF) Babachir David Lawal and the boss of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ambassador Ayodele Oke by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Babachir was axed by the president over his less than sterling role cum performance ever since he assumed the role of scribe to the government and the allegations of corrupt enrichment levelled against him over the past few months.

AljazirahNigeria recalls that the erstwhile SGF was once accused of collecting bribes to ensure the appointments of his cronies by the incumbent president.

Candidates were said to have paid as much as N400m to be considered for positions by the president.


He was also accused of using his position unduly to get contracts to execute projects in the Northeast region. In a queer case, he was said to have collected millions of cash to cut grass in the embattled region without following due process.

The nation’s lawmakers and indeed civil society groups had called for his removal over the last few months, a call the government had ignored.

AljazirahNigeria also called for Babachir’s removal in a recent editorial.



In the case of Oke, the scandal where over N14bn was recovered from an highbrow apartment in Ikoyi ostensibly belonging to his agency had caught the nation by storm. His explanation that the cash had been handed over to him by the Goodluck Jonathan administration for ‘special operations’ had been greeted with part humor and part ridicule by Nigerians.

His actions had unwittingly brought undue limelight to the nondescript but powerful, low-profile security outfit and more opprobrium to the All Progressive Congress (APC) led government.

The president’s action of removing them from office while investigations commence though slow in coming was swift when it finally received presidential nod.

It is perhaps in this light that Aljazirah Nigeria commends the move to sanitize the government of the bad eggs in it which many believe had been treated with kid’s gloves by President Buhari. It also shows that the government may have re-ignited its flair for going after the hitherto ‘untouchables’ in government.

Many have argued that the President may have initiated the move due to pressure from the Senators who have refused to confirm nominees from the government for ambassadorial roles ostensibly because of their request that some members of the government including Babachir be removed from office.

Notwithstanding the motive behind Mr President’s actions, Aljazirah Nigeria still believes in the anti-graft stance of the Muhammadu Buhari led federal government and offers its support.

But there is more work to be done Mr President!

Just like the novel hero, Oliver Twist, Nigerians yearn for more action on your part.

It is obvious that there are still more bad eggs in the current government. These also need to get the Babachir-Oke treatment since they have refused to resign as it is done in saner climes.

The continued stay of these public officers who have one moral baggage or the other on their credibility quota or allegations of impropriety levelled against them will continue to be a blight on whatever strides the president may achieve in the coming months.

The president is currently facing turbulence over the fragile state of his health and the media handling of the matter thus he cannot afford more opposition from the people on whose backs he rode to power.

What Aljazirah Nigeria and indeed Nigerians want is simple: let the bad eggs in government be shown the way out.

AljazirahNigeria knows that there are indeed more Babachirs and Okes to be weeded out from Buhari’s government.

Our wheels of justice should start turning more rapidly now just as it does in other advanced societies.

In South Korea, a former president Park Geun Hye was unceremoniously removed for abuse of office and even after her disgraceful exit from the exalted position, she was still charged to court and made to face the music.

Our own situation cannot continue to be the same. We must follow the rest of the world in shaming corrupt public officers rather than applauding them.

The eyes of Nigerians and indeed the whole world are on President Buhari as he tackles the issue of corruption (or allegations of graft) in his own household and immediate community of aides first before he grapples with the ravaging monster in the wider society he superintends.

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