Renowned legal practitioner, Mr. Wahab Shittu has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to investigate former President Olusegun Obasanjo for allegations of bribery levelled against him while trying to push his third-term agenda through at the National Assembly.
Shittu, who stated this in a recent interview with the PUNCH, argued that Obasanjo was not above the law, and hence should be investigated.
He said: “I want to preface my comments by emphasising the need for us to maintain an open mind and to also recognise the presumption of innocence on the part of those who are to be investigated, particularly on the part of former President Obasanjo. The rationale is that he remains an elder statesman, a national and iconic figure who has made some significant contributions to nation-building and who was also very instrumental to the quelling of the Civil War.
“He has consistently been praised for his crusade for unity and cohesiveness in the country. Although he remains controversial, he is perceived as a cat with nine lives. But that does not mean he is above the law. So, my take would be yes, the EFCC should reopen investigations into that allegations.
“But they should not be limited to the third-term allegation alone. It should cover other bribery allegations against that administration and subsequent administrations. For instance, it should cover the murders and other alleged atrocities of the Obasanjo era, including alleged atrocities of the (Goodluck) Jonathan years, like the allegations raised by (former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido) Sanusi on the money that was not remitted to the Federation Account, the Halliburton scandal, the Siemens scandal and other scandals of that nature, in order to put the past into proper perspective so that we can draw useful lessons. But beyond the allegations, what
“I would emphasise is that in undertaking such, a premium should be placed on effective and efficient investigation.”