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Shekarau Joins Jang As Another Unusual PDP Presidential Hopeful To Face Prosecution

 

The Oasis Reporters

May 24, 2018

Top right: David Jonah Jang
Bottom left: Ibrahim Shekarau

Nigeria’s anti graft agency is getting increasingly busy, arresting opposition politicians who pose reasonable electoral threat to the reelection bid of Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s 4th democratic president since the current democratic dispensation began in 1999.
Ironically, it was Buhari who used guns and imprisonment to terminate the second Republic experience carefully put together by former military leader, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Jonah Jang was Plateau State governor for eight years (2007-2015) and indigines of the State praise his strides in developing infrastructure.
He’s unusual as a presidential candidate from the north on account of his religion, zone and tribe. Each time the presidency gets zoned to the north, Fulanis always get it, and they must be Fulani Muslims. The largely Christian middle belt almost always looks the other way, though they are also northerners.

With the current agenda of the Fulani herdsmen militia bent on exterminating middle belt tribes to take over their land for cattle rearing, the mortally threatened indigenous tribesmen are taking a second look at the North’s collective patrimony that never percolates to them.
Jang stepped forward and said he too wants to be presidential candidate under the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP banner.

The EFCC suddenly appeared with his file of accusations talking about some yet to be explained financial transactions in his eight years as governor. He was promptly locked up and denied bail, according to Senator Ali Ndume, even “on self recognition”.
Everyone is mouth agape and baffled.
Jang is a Christian, and as governor was well disliked by Fulani nomads resident in the state at a time the pastime between the Fulani herdsmen and the indigenous tribesmen was morbidly massacring each other. For that same reason too, Jang’s predecessor was impeached from office through a contrivance by then president Olusegun Obasanjo.

As Jonah Jang is cooling his heels in prison custody, another PDP hopeful, Ibrahim Shekarau, former ANPP governor of Kano State and one time Minister of Education is also facing prosecution.

Shekarau is another unusual presidential candidate. Although he is a Muslim from the core north, by origin, he is indigenous to Nguru in the old Borno state where they are either Kanuri, Beriberi or one of the many other tribes in that region.
Shekarau’s father, a retired policeman settled in Giginyu area of Kano city and blended with the native hausa people who eventually propelled him to the governorship seat of the State.
His performance in eight years of governance was praiseworthy. He invested in infrastructure, completing many projects like the futuristic waterworks started by his predecessor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Again, Shekarau is unusual. He is not Fulani, but wants to contest against the ruling APC and succeed Buhari on behalf of the PDP that has zoned the presidency to the north.

Yet he accuses President Muhammadu Buhari of ordering his arraignment in court soon after the former governor granted an interview in which he was critical of the regime.

Sule Ya’u Sule is Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau’s spokesperson. He said that the case against his boss is without “concrete evidence” and it is supposedly related to N25 million he received for logistics during the 2015 general elections.

Here is his press release :

“Few week after granting a media interview where he scored the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari very low, the anti-corruption agency has now decided to arraign Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau to court on an allegation of receiving PDP campaign fund.

Despite a lack of concrete evidence, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), is insisting on prosecuting former Kano Governor and Minister of Education Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau on the allegation that he was offered N25 million for 2015 election logistics.

Since 2016, when the issue of election fund came up, Mallam Shekarau has been invited by the EFCC to explain the amount allegedly given to him along with other stakeholders of the party in Kano State for the election campaign, but he denied receiving the amount and he challenged the EFCC to produce anyone or concrete evidence to prove that he collected the money.

Based on this, the former minister was asked to go. However, and surprisingly too, for reasons best known to the EFCC, we received communication from the anti-corruption agency that the former minister is to be arraigned before a Federal High Court in Kano on Thursday this week (May 24, 2018) over the same alleged N 25 million election fund.

We are aware that the coming weeks and months would witness arraignment of opposition leaders, especially top members of the PDP who have refused to decamp to the ruling party, APC.

Malam Shekarau recently signified his political aspiration to run for the Presidency and granted media interviews where he picked holes on anti-masses policies of the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Signed:
Sule Ya’u Sule
Special Assistant to the former minister of Education”.

Political analysts and observers are baffled over the inquisitorial probe into the opposition PDP campaign funding of the election that saw Muhammadu Buhari win and assume the presidency. All former PDP stalwarts who jumped ship to the APC have had their earlier advertised cases or probes technically suspended while nothing whatsoever is being said about the campaign funding that saw him win. His campaign Director General is a decamped PDP governor of the richest state in the Niger delta, Rivers state and many people say that he broke the state’s till to get his new boss elected.

“One sided probe”, many watchers have chorused.
All they want is for Buhari to run on his verifiable achievements in office, rather than the EFCC intimidating opposition politicians, leaving the ruling party members unperturbed and undisturbed.

Greg Abolo

Blogger at The Oasis Reporters.

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