The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has charged the Federal Government to work against time and re-open the Halliburton and Siemens corruption scandals.
Nigerians, the governor said, are waiting patiently and anxiously to see the trial of all those indicted in the scandal. This is the only way President Muhammadu Buhari can disabuse the minds of Nigerians that the current anti-corruption war in the country is being done in good faith and not selective.
He urged the president to, without further delay, commence the trial and commend him for reassuring Nigerians that the case is still on. This, he said, is the only way he can justify the confidence Nigerians repose in him.
Governor Ayodele Fayose reminded the President that other countries that were involved in the Halliburton/Siemens scandal have all been prosecuted and brought to justice adding that it is high-time a similar thing was done by the present administration.
He patted President Buhari on the back and said anything short of this amounts to insincerity in the ongoing anti-graft war.
Condemning the publicized purported arrest of the President’s associate and chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, Jafaru Isa, who reportedly refunded the sum of N100 million to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Governor Ayodele said that was none other than a ploy employed to hoodwink the generality of Nigerians that the fight is not political or selective.
Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr. Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said “like I have maintained, I do not buy into the EFCC story of Jafaru Isa’s refund of N100 million because it raises more questions than answers and I am also seeing this talks by the Federal Government about reopening of the Halliburton and Siemens scams as an aftermath of the failure of the Jafaru Isa’s stunt to achieve the desired result. This is because unlike the arms deal that the EFCC is investigating, the Halliburton and Siemens scams have been investigated both in Nigeria and in the other countries. None of the top Nigerian culprits implicated in the $1.5 billion bribery scandal had been questioned and put on trial in Nigeria while others from other countries were already serving various jail terms”.
Speaking further he said, therefore, reopening the Halliburton and Siemens scams should be immediate and total. It should not be another decoy to deceive Nigerians by giving the impression that the anti-corruption war is not targeted at those opposed to President Buhari in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his own party, the APC. Also, the president should go a step further by directing the EFCC to investigate the many petitions written against those who financed his election and other chieftains of the APC, including Ministers serving in the government presently.
“Until those alleged to be involved in the Halliburton and Siemens scams and those who financed the President’s election with public funds are charged to court, Nigerians will be right in believing that the fight against corruption is only an instrument of settling political scores,” Governor Ayodele added.
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