Massive Corruption During Buhari Years, Was Ex-President Unaware?

It is obvious from even government reports, that the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari administration had been largely characterized by unfettered corruption and financial malfeasance.
If in doubt ask Transparency International (TI) whose corruption perception index documented odious corruption in the eight years of Buhari administration. Beyond TI reports, the outcome of investigations into Central Bank under Emefiele show clearly that those Buhari years were years of free-for-all corruption.

34 trillion in Ways and Means borrowing, several trillions more in foreign borrowings, plus the trillions extra budgetary, all developed wings and legs during those 8 years. It is the consequences of those unbridled 8 years of lootery that we are suffering today.

Transparency International Verdict On Buhari
For the avoidance of doubt, when TI released its corruption perception index for Nigeria for 2021, Nigeria’s corruption perception index ranking had worsened. Nigeria had dropped 5 places, from 149th to 154th place among 180 countries. This revelation by Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI 2021) is still available on their website to this day.

Transparency International, the leading civil society organisation working to end corruption worldwide, released its CPI, showing that 25 countries had improved their ranking while 23 worsened. Nigeria under Buhari was among the countries where corruption got worse. Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points in the 2021 index.

Since President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as president in 2015, Nigeria had steadily dropped in corruption ranking. In 2015, Nigeria ranked 136th, 136th in 2016, 148th in 2017, 144th in 2018, 146th in 2019, and 149th in 2020.
Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index, Transparency International’s flagship research product, has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.
With this data from TI it is not disputable that corruption was rampant under Buhari. Sadly, one of the biggest jokes of the Buhari era was the African Union (AU) awarding him Africa’s Anti-corruption Champion.

Did Buhari Fool African Union?
In 2017, African leaders unanimously endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari as anti-corruption champion in the fight against corruption in the African Union. The News Agency of Nigeria reported at the time that the endorsement came at the end of the 29th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of AU in Addis Ababa. In 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari was again named Africa Anti-Corruption Champion by the African Union. These show clearly that the AU was a huge joke on the issue of corruption in the continent in general and Nigeria in particular.

While Buhari was being celebrated as Africa’s anti-corruption champion, the officials of his government had turned the national treasury to their personal fiefdom. It was under him that N30trillion ways and means cannot be accounted for. The ill-advised printing of excess naira during his administration is one of the reasons why we are where we are today. It was under him that $3.4 billion loan obtained by Nigeria from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to finance the budget and respond to COVID-19 was missing, diverted or unaccounted for to this day.
The missing IMF’s $3.4billion loan is the reason the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued President Bola Tinubu over his ‘failure’ to probe the ‘missing’ funds which the country must payback without knowing what the money was used for or where it is.
It was under him that Hadi Sirika, a powerful Aviation Minister and a Buhari nephew sold a phantom Nigeria Air to the public at a huge cost. A deal which can only be characterized as 419 and yahoo pro max!

The sleaze at the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry was the joke of the country, yet President Buhari did nothing. The Humanitarian people went on to claim that they were feeding school children throughout the COVID shut down. President Bubari did nothing and said nothing.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) became cesspool of corruption under Buhari administration, yet, the anti-corruption champion of Africa was not aware!

Disturbing Discoveries By Jim Obaze
Over the weekend I read a disturbing investigative report in the Vanguard Newspaper titled, “Tinubu’s Headache: How multi-billion dollar corruption under Buhari hit economy — Investigation.”
The report gave snippet of the behind the scene happening as Jim Obaze, the Special Investigator appointed by President Tinubu, had uncovered monumental corruption under the Buhari administration. The paper reported how some powerful and influential operators close to President Buhari became stupendously rich at the expense of Nigeria’s treasury.
Figures in the billions of dollars were said to have been traced to some of them. According to the report the figures were too high to be believed prompting one of the sources contacted to ask: “Is it that some of these people you are talking about were the ones to whom funds from sale of Nigeria’s crude oil were paid? Did they pay these people directly for crude oil sales or what?”
The report hinted of some individuals cornering $6billion, others $8billion in this same Nigeria where we don’t have enough dollars to save the Naira from total collapse.

According to the report, it was in the course of pursuing leads at the CBN and the presidency that some authorised and unauthorised transfers and outright cash withdrawals were discovered. “From over-invoicing to forgeries, unauthorised releases, influence-peddling, funds diversion, arms deals, forex deals and other financial malfeasances, funds were traced and tracked to some influential operators in the last administration.”

What Does Former President Buhari Know?
How can so much corruption take place without the knowledge of former President Buhari! How can a man many of us placed so much hope on turns out to be the exact opposite?
Or can he truly claim to be unaware of the corruption being unearthed when the main alleged actors are those within his very inner circle? As Africa’s Anti-corruption Champion, as the president, as the man whom we elected, does it mean that he won election and then went to sleep? Many of us write articles, we appeared on TV talk shows, we wrote direct letters to him raising alarm on the clear cases of corruption that we stumbled upon. There was no response from his end.

No one can convince any serious citizen that the former president was unaware! He received briefs from both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)! He was updated on the way and manner corruption was endemic in his administration, so he cannot claim ignorance of the odorous reign of lootocracy that he superintended over.

The buck stopped on his table, so, he has to be held accountable for the transgressions that happened in his administration. He was the one that requested for Ways and Means of N30trillion, why can’t he account for how it was spent?

We are all witnesses, at least for those of us who follow international affairs how former President of United States Donald Trump is being dragged from court to court over his actions and inactions as president of America. That is true democracy in action. No one is above the law because the constitution is supreme.
Unless and until past leaders are held accountable, Nigeria’s quest for development will remain an elusive endeavour.

MAY NIGERIA REBOUND