Popular Catholic cleric, Bishop Matthew Kukah has blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for keeping within its fold the same people President Muhammadu Buhari jailed for corruption as a military head of state in 1984.
Kukah added that it was strange that such people were now the “kingpins” of a party that prides itself on its anti-corruption stance.
The outspoken cleric made this known in a recent interview with Gatefield TV, an online television platform.
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, who did not name the individuals involved, blamed the situation on the “collective amnesia” of Nigerians, adding that it could only happen in Nigeria.
Kukah equally described the president as someone he has enormous respect for, but faulted the president’s reasoning that corruption is all about stealing money.
He said, “My worry is that President Buhari thought, and probably still thinks, corruption is stealing money, and the people stealing money are largely bureaucrats or government officials, which was what happened in 1984.
“Buhari simply went around and arrested all the people who were holding government offices.
“The only thing we feel very sad about Nigeria is our collective amnesia. There are people who are key kingpins in APC today who were sentenced to various years of imprisonment by Buhari in 1984, some up to 100 years.
“But since this is Nigeria, many of them have finished serving their 100-year jail term. They have come back, joined APC and are active members of the party.”
The cleric said that such people funded the president’s election in 2015.
“Buhari was not brought into power by angels. We know the nature of the vehicle that would bring anybody to the presidency of Nigeria.”