Jonathan Not Corrupt, Has Not Allocated Oil Block To Himself-Nuhu Ribadu

Jonathan

 

 

 

Nuhu Ribadu is the former chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and governorship candidate of PDP in Adamawa State. He spoke on allegations of corruption against President Goodluck Jonathan and chances of Jonathan winning Saturday’s presidential election.

 

“Because first of all I know him (President Goodluck Jonathan) fairly better than most people. Secondly, I also know a little bit more than many people in this country. Thirdly, I am an unrepentant advocate and believer in the unity of Nigeria. I respect people no matter where they come from. This country should give all of us equal opportunity to be whatever we want to be. At a time, this country worked hard to promote unity; we worked hard to produce a president from the South West and he was there for eight years and it helped the unity of Nigeria.

It helped us to stabilize, especially those of us who knew what was going on in 1999. I can only imagine what would have happened to Nigeria if we had terminated the administration of President Obasanjo in 2003 after just one term.

Many people also saw what Obasanjo did in his second term. So, it is based on that understanding that I feel that this man, this simple, honest person that I know, who is unfairly being painted in the opposite, should be allowed another term. I feel there is need to hear about the opposite side of him.

People say a lot about him that is not true. For instance, I don’t think that a single act of corruption can be traced to him as an individual. I know that he is the only president in recent years who did not allocate a single oil bloc to anybody, not to talk of himself. And these are the areas where you can tell corruption in its true colour. He did not allocate oil bloc to himself, family or friends up till now. He also did not give a single marginal field to himself or anybody else even though he is the only president that comes from the Niger Delta where the oil is coming from.”

 

“Well this is not allocation of marginal fields. These are existing contracts where technical partners had withdrawn and you therefore, have to replace them with someone else to manage it, as partnership in some cases. So, this is not a new allocation at all.

In any case, he is the only president so far who did not renegotiate any Joint Venture contract. I have also not seen any massive, big contract in that industry to date that people are shouting and crying.

I know for a fact that President Jonathan does not have a single property anywhere abroad or any huge business in Nigeria. He does not own a university and none of his children are schooling abroad. It is therefore so unfair the way he is being painted because of politics.”

 

 “That also is another different thing. That does not necessarily mean he is a corrupt person. Governance is a very complicated and difficult thing.

All my life I have been an anti-corruption advocate. I have always tried to be honest in my life. I dislike corruption. At the same time, I know situations do come up where certain issues may be far more important than other things.

Today, the unity of Nigeria is at stake, our continued existence as one united country is far more important than any other thing. Presently, the unity of our country is threatened.”

 

“What I am saying is that we are facing an insurgency. We face a very serious threat. Many countries that face the same problem we are facing now have turned upside down. The government of Mali had to collapse, and France had to come to their aid. It is basically the same problem we are facing today. The same thing is going on in Somalia and Yemen.

So wherever you see this type of insurgency, the unity of the country is threatened. It is the same thing with Afghanistan and so on. So I am saying we need to be careful not to add other problems to the ones we already have.

I recently made the point that you do not need to change your commander-in-chief in the middle of a war, especially if there is success. We are presently recording huge success in bringing back peace and order and recovering our territories hitherto taken over by the insurgents. At this point, it makes sense for us to be calm and stable to ensure that we do not add other problems.”

If we had terminated Obasanjo’s government in 2003, only God knows what would have happened to this country. He did well after 2003 and I believe it is going to be the same with President Goodluck Jonathan. I am not saying he did not do well, but that he will do even better in his second term.”

 

 

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