National chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, have sharply disagreed over the way the anti-corruption war of the Federal Government is being prosecuted.
While Modu Sheriff decried what he called the one-sided focus of the anti-graft war, Odigie-Oyegun countered that the war cannot be differently fought because the PDP stayed for very long in government and got exposed to corruption.
Modu Sheriff had in an interview with Saturday Tribune (see page 38) asked the Federal Government to extend its anit-graft war to the APC and the other parties instead of its current focus majorly on PDP members.
He said: “The PDP as a party supports all forms of anti-corruption crusade. However, we believe that it should be all the way through. We support the fight against corruption but it should not be one-sided. Corruption in all ramifications is evil. We don’t support corruption. But that corruption fight must be for every party and no exception…PDP, APC, APGA, all the political parties, because our party is a law-abiding party. Our party was in government for 16 years and the anti-corruption law itself was made by the PDP. In 1999, the law that set up the anti-corruption agencies was passed when I was a leader in the Senate.”
But the national chairman of the APC, Chief Odigie-Oyegun on Friday defended the anti-graft war embarked upon by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, insisting that the war was not selective.
Odigie-Oyegun, who spoke in a chat with Saturday Tribune, said that the protest emanating from the PDP was misplaced.
According to him, the PDP was in control of levels of government for long, adding that that long tenure exposed many of its members to questionable government contracts.
Odigie-Oyegun said: “What do they mean by being selective? Is [Senate President Bukola] Saraki not a member of the APC? There are quite one or two other chieftains of the APC who are undergoing trial. Is it those of us who have never been involved in government contracts the anti-graft agencies will probe?
“Don’t forget that the PDP was in control of some 28 states and the Federal Government at a stage. How do you expect the anti-graft war to be different and the anti-corruption agencies have not even looked into a number of areas. It just can’t be different,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his reaction, the Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Femi Adesina, told Saturday Tribune in an e-mail sent from the United States that nobody would be spared in the fight against corruption, no matter who that person may be or whatever party he/she may belong to.
Asked whether the President would consider Sheriff’s advice, he said: “The answer is obvious. The war is all-embracing already. No friend, no foe. Anyone that has questions to answer will be called to do so, irrespective of party affiliation.” (Tribune)