Business is slow at the moment for Benedict
Okafor, who sells luxury cars from a lot near the
port in Nigeria’s financial capital, Lagos.
In the capital, Abuja, 535 kilometres (333 miles)
away, the property market seems to be in a rut,
with the habitual buyers — the monied elite —
staying away.
“I normally sold five cars every month before”
President Muhammadu Buhari came to power,
said Okafor. “But in the past four months I have
sold only one Toyota car.
“I guess rich people are scared.”
Jide Agboola, a real estate agent in Abuja, also
attributed the current slump in conspicuous
consumption to fear: “The fear of Buhari.”
It’s not hard to see why when Buhari’s promised
crusade against high-level corruption has already
snared a series of household names.
Senate leader Bukola Saraki — Nigeria’s third-
most senior politician after Buhari and his vice-
president Yemi Osinbajo — is facing charges of
false declaration of assets.
Godswill Akpabio, the former governor of coastal
Akwa Ibom state, was hauled in for questioning
over claims he had stolen 108 billion naira ($540
million, 475 million euros) while in office.
Sule Lamido, the governor of Jigawa state in the
north, and Gabriel Suswam, who was governor of
Benue state until earlier this year, are also
fighting accusations of graft.
At the same time, former oil minister Diezani
Alison-Madueke, was arrested in London as part
of a British investigation into suspected bribery
and money laundering.
– Stopping the rot –
Buhari’s arrival in May appears to have given
fresh bite to the fight against corruption, which
has plagued Nigeria over decades of military rule
then civilian administration.
Cases involving top officials that were long
thought to have been shelved have been revived,
as he seeks to fulfil his election promises of
stopping the rot in the system.
“As soon as he (Buhari) came to power, without
any direct instruction from him, the anti-graft
agencies went into a frenzy, dusting down cases
of corruption against some past officials which
have been long dead in order to convince
Nigerians that they are working,” Debo Adeniran,
head of the pressure group Coalition Against
Corrupt Leaders, told AFP.
The move was predictable for many: Buhari’s
previous time in power as the head of a military
regime in the 1980s was characterised by his so-
called “War Against Indiscipline”.
“Everybody remembers Buhari’s antecedents when
he was a military dictator,” said Bukola Daniel, a
Lagos-based political scientist.
“He was a no-nonsense military ruler. The fear of
Buhari is now all-pervading and everybody is
careful not to be caught in a corruption web.”
– Witch-hunt? –
Nigeria’s main opposition Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), however, is crying double standards.
They point out that the former governors of Lagos
and Rivers states, Babatunde Fashola and Rotimi
Amaechi, have both been accused of graft but are
still in line for ministerial posts.
Instead, the PDP described the anti-corruption
drive as a “witch-hunt” against its members and
other “perceived political opponents” of Buhari’s
All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
Party spokesman Olisa Metuh denounced what he
described as “the relentless victimisation of our
key members”.
The APC dismissed the claim as a “worn-out
argument”.
Certainly, Alison-Madueke’s arrest in particular
has underlined to Nigeria’s elite that it’s no
longer business as usual — even if Abuja has
denied any direct involvement.
But Adeniran and others said Buhari needed to go
further to avoid accusations of posturing.
Clement Nwankwo, head of the Policy and Legal
Advocacy Centre, a pro-democracy group, said
securing convictions would prove the situation
was not just “rhetoric”.
“The challenge to corruption has to be
systematic. That I have not seen,” he said.
“We also cannot fight corruption with the judiciary
we have today,” he added, explaining the courts
were ill-equipped to deal with corruption cases.
– ‘A few more Buharis’ –
For now, there is a sense that rich and powerful
Nigerians — so long accustomed to impunity —
are on their best behaviour.
How long it will last is unclear but social
commentator and university lecturer Samson
Olatunde Oduleye said Buhari’s influence could be
decisive.
“If we have a few more Buharis and emphasis
shifts to the root of the problem — the society —
inroads can be made into a sustainable assault
on the malaise,” he said.
“The most effective, non-legal check on
corruption is the moral tone of society: societal
values.
“There are things you will not contemplate doing
even when there is no-


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/10/fear-of-buhari-teams-rich-powerful-nigerians/

nice one op. keep it up.

Rubbish

Who the Bleep fear that fool

indeed new SHERIFF is in town… the fear of PMB is the beginning of wisdom for looters
cc: midolian, ngeneukwenu,rawani,passingshort,tonyebacarnista,lalasticlacla

Ufranklin92:
Rubbish

Who the Bleep fear that fool

looters e.g madam frog eye nursing(hiding)in UK

Fear of buhari abi na body odour of buhari? d dullard is fast loosing the goodwill of the people that voted for him and ur here talking about fear..
I FEAR only God but RESPECT man

^^who are the pple that vote him into office, you ?
we voted for him nd we will forever support any good thing happening to our dear country.

Damn