The emergence of Prince Abubakar Audu as flag bearer of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the November 26 Kogi state governorship election came as a serious shock to the lovers of moral sanity, a paradox of the first order, an irony of fate and an insult to a sane society which we in Greenbarge Reporters believe Kogi State is. With Prince Audu’s emergence, APC has shot itself not only in the foot but, possibly, dead.
Coming in this era of change: the Buhari era that is set to confront corruption head-on, makes the process that brought Prince Audu into the political limelight again looks incredibly strange, painfully laughable and thoroughly unacceptable.
Indeed, if the change Nigerians asked and voted for in May this year should take firm root, definitely, Prince Audu is not a good news for the same party that has come to represent that change. And or the party that is positioning itself to be the agent of such change.
Only a few years ago, the same man that APC has chosen and floated, from millions of qualified aspirants, to run the change mantra in Kogi, was arrested, humiliated, handcuffed in public glare, marched shamelessly to a court of competent jurisdiction and charged with stealing of over N11 Billion from the coffers of the state when he was governor.
Specifically, Prince Audu was taken to a High Court in Lokoja, capital of Kogi state, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, December 04, 2006 on 80-count charge. Imagine 80-count charge!
The Sun newspaper captured vividly, the scenario at the time he was led to the court thus: “Audu was taken to the court premises in handcuffs, around 10.08am, in a Peugeot Standard mini-bus marked Plateau A.G. 162-QAP and docked before Justice Michael Medupin.
“Major roads leading to the court premises – through police headquarters, NUJ Press Centre and Crowther Road – were cordoned off by anti-riot policemen to check vehicular movements.
“The tension led to the closure of offices of the Teaching Service Commission and Crowther Memorial College.
“After all the 80 charges were read to Audu, Olanipekun made an oral application for his bail, saying that some of the allegations were political charges, all of which, he argued, were bailable. He assured that as a senior citizen of Nigeria, who had also previously been governor, Audu would not jump bail.
“Counsel to EFCC did not object to the ex-governor being granted bail. However, he argued that Audu’s attorneys should not make ordinary oral application for bail.
“The trial judge. after hearing their arguments adjourned the case to Wednesday, December 6, for ruling on whether or not to grant the accused person bail. He also ordered that Audu be remanded in the EFCC custody in Abuja, but ordered the operatives not to handcuff the former governor.”
And about nine years after he was so humiliated, demonised, treated like a common criminal (the same way the security agents would treat armed robber, in handcuffs et al), Prince Audu is back, by hook and or crook, as a potential governor of the same Kogi state. And that is even when the same case for which he was so justifiably treated was and is still pending in court.
Without beating much about the bush, the question is “has APC made its governorship platform ready for Prince Audu as an escape route to evade justice with the so-called immunity, should he go ahead to win the election and become Kogi state governor again?”
What type of corruption would Buhari be waging war against if one of the governors under his party or, for that matter, if one of the top members of the party, wreaks of transparent corruption and is being ingloriously crowned with conferment of honour as a potential governor?
Is APC and or President Muhammadu Buhari comfortable with and proud of Prince Audu being floated as governorship candidate, and made to go ahead to contest the election with a big question-mark hanging on his forehead?
The mere mention of Prince Audu in a society or country that is struggling to cast off the yoke of demeaning and monstrous corruption would represent a mockery on, and a major black-spot in such anti-corruption crusade; the crusade which President Buhari in particular and APC in general are set to embark on.
God forbid that such thing as using heap of sand to cover putrid “excreta” in the form of corruption should happen on the Nigerian soil again! Except if APC will allow itself to be seen as singing anti-corruption in the day time and embracing corruption with passion in the night.
And, the Kogi people that we know, will not vote for Prince Audu with the darmorcle of corruption dangling from his head. APC has a precious second chance to re-think and correct itself before it lose not only Kogi state but its integrity and moral right to float anti-corruption mantra.
To be forewarned…
[myad]
