On Bafarawa’s unfolding travails
The architects of those allegations of Wamakko’s influence over Bafarawa’s torments, to say the least, are ignorant of the laws of the country as well as the operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). It would therefore be appropriate to use a small portion of this write-up to educate the Sakkwatawa, and Nigerians […]
The architects of those allegations of Wamakko’s influence over Bafarawa’s torments, to say the least, are ignorant of the laws of the country as well as the operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). It would therefore be appropriate to use a small portion of this write-up to educate the Sakkwatawa, and Nigerians in general, who those people want to deceive by their vague utterances.
The law that establishes the EFCC makes it mandatory for the Commission to receive petition from individuals, organizations or government on any perceived financial crime before the Commission can take action. Though the Commission has powers to act on other instances but there must be a basis for any of its actions. It is a known fact for most political observers in the country that in his attempt to ridicule the integrity of the incumbent governor of Sokoto State in the eyes of the good people of the State, Bafarawa always adjudged himself as the best governor Sokoto has ever produced and laid claims to have left billions of naira in the coffers of the state.
With these false claims by Bafarawa, it would certainly be wrong for Wamakko to keep sealed lips on mischievous and baseless issues that were made to mislead the Sakkwatawas and Nigerians in general.
It is therefore based on these factors that Governor Wamakko decided to take stock of what the Bafarawa government has done to the state and the claims of leaving behind billions of naira as it is an established fact that for any government to succeed on its mandates, it has to take stock of what its predecessor has done. This would give it the focus on which direction it should take.
For instance, in the name of Joint Account between the State and its local governments, Bafarawa deprived all the local governments their constitutional right. Local governments are suppose to use their allocations from the federation account to execute projects that would touch the lives of the people at the grassroots but instead of Bafarawa to allow them execute that he deprived them of that right. Sokoto State local government during the reign of Bafarawa were only given five to seven million naira monthly for overhead cost as against the hundreds of millions of naira allocated to them by the federal government. This was the trend that characterized the eight years of Bafarawa’s governorship in the state.
That example is just one out of the many transgressions of Bafarawa’s administration and it is on those bases the EFCC came about the N15 billion that Bafarawa defrauded Sokoto state government and its innocent people.
In their usual mischievous character, instead of Bafarawa and his allies to face the charges before them, they want to divert the attention of the good people of Sokoto and the country in general by trying to politicize the arrest and detention of the former governor and his cohorts. They want to convince us that Governor Wamakko is behind the predicaments of his predecessor. By doing so, they are trying to divert the attention of the public from the criminal charges the former governor is being tried of.
Furthermore, if Bafarawa is innocent of the charges, his allies should allow the court to say it since Bafarawa is not being made to face a jungle justice.
We should also know that, according to known norms of the law, suspects of crimes are supposed to face trial in the place where the crime was committed. For emphasis, it is very important to know that Wamakko is a state governor while the court that is trying Bafarawa is a Federal High Court, which is part of the independent judicial arm of government. Unless we refute the independence of the judicial arm of the country, we know that it is not possible for a state governor to influence the decision of a Federal High Court. Instead of adopting diversionary measures, Bafarawa, his lawyers and allies should rather concentrate on finding the right defense for the charges leveled against the former governor.
Galadanchi wrote from Sokoto