Corruption: Buhari is Dinning, Winning with former PDP Hit Men Who He Said Destroyed Nigeria, Says Shekerau

Corruption: Buhari is Dinning, Winning with former PDP Hit Men Who He Said Destroyed Nigeria, Says Shekerau

The former Governor of Kano State and the immediate past Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau today lashed out at President Muhammadu  Buhari, accusing him of romancing with some of the politicians  who played leading roles in the past administrations he and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) were trying to discredit.

Shekarau however added that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has ample opportunity to retake power if only the leadership can have the courage to implement to the letter, all recommendations contained in the report of the party's 2015 post-election probe committee headed by Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu.

Speaking in an interview with journalists in his Abuja residence, Shekarau said he sees President Buhari as being highly hypocritical for condemning the past governments and at the same time having the hit men who participated in the alleged bad governance surrounding him as chief advisers.

The former governor who left the APC to join the PDP, and served as a minister at the twilight of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, described the claim by President Buhari that he was out to correct the mess committed by the PDP as preposterous, “so long as he continues to wine and dine with those who were with the administration he is discrediting.

"Just three days ago, I raised a question while addressing some young men who paid me a Sallah visit on who can give me answer to this poser, ‘Buhari has said that he has come to right the wrongs of 16-year mess by the PDP’.
"So I said ‘Mr. President you are welcome, but I hasten to remind you that 10 out of those 16 years belong to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. He had his 8 years and by indirect remote control, two years of late President Umaru Yar'Adua was Obasanjos.

"And Obasanjo was the one who produced Yar'Adua and Jonathan.
Until three years ago, when they fell out (Obasanjo and Jonathan), Obasanjo was in charge. Obasanjo, today, is among the chief advisers to President  Buhari.

“Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru  El-Rufai, was one of the major hit men of Obasanjo; my former Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was one of Obasanjo boys as well as former Governors Bukola Saraki, Goje among others.

"They were part of those 16 years which President Buhari said the PDP messed up Nigeria, and today, because they are in APC, they are saints. They are now surrounding the president as his chief advisers. The Amaechi's were all part of the PDP."

Shekarau further likened the president's predicament to that of one claiming to be upright and at the same time wining and dining with the devil he is supposed to be fighting.

He said the entire election crisis that President Buhari was accusing PDP of perpetrating were a creation of these same people who are with him now serving as his key advisers.
"So what sense does it make that I said you are thief for 16 years, I have come to correct the wrongs that you did and now I am calling you the chief adviser in order to right the wrongs that you committed. Does it make sense? We are waiting to see how they will come out of this.
"Buhari kept saying 16 years of PDP mess and that he is here to put things right and he is dinning with the people who were 90 percent the architect of those 16 years of what he called mess. So let him get out of it and let us see," he said.
While speaking on the importance of the findings made by the 2015 post-election review committee of the PDP which he was a member, Shekarau said he is optimistic that the implementation of the key recommendations will go a long way in restoring the party's lost glory.

The former Kano State governor used the opportunity to speak on some of the findings of the 15-member committee, saying key among the factors that led to the party's defeat at polls was its failure to adhere to  the tenets of internal democracy.
"Several portions of the constitution were violated. The issue of failure of internal democracy came up. Vacancies that existed in the party were unconstitutionally filled up. Primaries of the party were not properly conducted.
“The next issue was funding. The funds came from exclusive few. It led to the issue of godfatherism. We degenerated to a point where few individuals funded the party and felt like they owed it. This also led to the problem of denying elected members their roles.
"There was also the problem of poor handling of conflict resolutions. There are a lots of conflicts among stakeholders. There was instability in party leadership, particularly the chairmanship. Between 1998 and now, we have lost count on who and who have been chairmen. This has affected the smooth running of the party.
"Another issue is the non comprehensive database of members. Over the years, the party lost touch of the total number of its members. We discovered that this brought a lot of apathy. We discovered that the party attracted many support groups, but were not properly coordinated. We got memoirs from over 200 volunteer groups. They were neglected.
"Campaign organisations and election management were not thorough. There are other petty issues, but if you address these major ones, then we will not have issues,” he stated.