The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah, yesterday lambasted the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari for amplifying moral, financial and other forms of corruption.
The cleric stated this in the keynote speech entitled: ‘The future of constitutional democracy in Nigeria: Imperative of a new constitutional order,” he presented at the 60th anniversary call to bar celebration of a foremost lawyer and founder of Afe Babalola University, Mr. Afe Babalola in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State
Although Kukah said corruption did not start with the last administration, he said it became most horrible under Buhari.
“We have seen the worst phase of corruption in Nigeria; Femi Falana, my friend… has published a series of articles talking about what happened under the Buhari administration.
“They were not the ones who caused corruption but I think in the last administration, we saw the ugliest phase of corruption, whether in moral terms, financial terms and other terms,’’ he said.
Kukah also stated that Nigeria is sharing its sovereignty which is guaranteed in the constitution with bandits and other terrorists.
He said nobody is excited now about being a Nigerian, even if they were president or senators, adding that the country is literally being held hostage by people who threaten the existence of the nation and its democracy.
Kukah said a lot of Nigerians had lost faith in the judiciary but noted that he considered the judiciary a victim the same way every other institution in Nigeria is suffering a crisis.
According to him, Nigeria should not yet assume that it is a democracy but, instead assume it is matching towards democracy, which means rebuilding “after the kind of mess the last administration has left the country.”
Kukah said it was time to rebuild the country, adding that no matter what happened at the Supreme Court concerning the election, he was convinced that Nigerians had put the “ugly past” behind them.
In his presentation, Falana said there had been several high-profile politicians with looting cases in court who had been visiting the presidential villa and charged President Bola Tinubu not to send wrong signal.
“Some of those who are going in and out of the Villa are standing trial for looting the treasury of this country.
“No, wrong signals must not be sent to our people and the international community,” he said.
He said if the president led the anti-graft battle, Nigeria would take its rightful place in the comity of nations as the largest concentration of black people on earth.
He said corruption in the country had assumed a dangerous dimension as highly-placed public officers steal money meant for building hospitals.
“They steal money meant for ecology, to fight erosion, to re-forest certain parts of the country. So, when a country gets to that stage, corruption is now a crime against humanity,” Falana said.
Also speaking, former President Olusegun Obasanjo said Nigeria’s version of democracy does not deliver dividends to the people.
He said democracy and good governance must lead to the welfare and wellbeing of the people, particularly the common people.
“In the American constitution, every person is born equal not every citizen, and they enjoy the constitutional right. But with us, the constitution is breached.
“We have no democracy that delivers the dividends of democracy. And if your democracy does not deliver, anything goes.
“Most of the people who are supposed to manage the constitution are the ones who undermine the constitution. Your democracy must deliver the dividends of democracy.
“I believe that constitutionalism, democracy must be for the welfare and wellbeing of the people.
“Leadership at all level requires certain things – character, understanding, knowledge, sacrifice and if these are not there, we are deceiving ourselves. All these must lead to welfare, and prosperity,” he added.
Obasanjo praised Babalola for his contributions to the development of his community, state and country at large, adding that he had made things better than he met them.
“You have met this world at a point, you have met your community at a point, you have met your family at a point and what you have done is that what you have met you have made it better than what you have found,” Obasanjo said.
He said one lesson he learned from Babalola was that he never rested, even after many years at the bar.
He said at a time Babalola should be resting, he established a university and made it one of the leading tertiary institutions in the country.
“That is a lesson that we should all learn. Whatever we are given to do and whatever we agree to do or whatever we make up our mind to do, we should put the best of ourselves into it and make it the best that it can be.
‘’You have made this university the best that any university can be in Nigeria, I appreciate that,” Obasanjo stated.
In his remarks, Babalola called for total overhaul of the judiciary.
He also said judges who preside over election tribunals should be separate from regular court judges to avoid the halt of cases unrelated to elections.
He proffered that retired judges and respectable senior advocates should constitute tribunal judges.
“Our judiciary today needs a total overhaul and you cannot do it without a new constitution. I have about three cases myself in respect of matters arising from the university.
“For the past four years, these cases have been on. We have some judges here, the headquarters won’t be able to sit for many months because they are handling what they call election petitions.
“Election petitions should not be handled by sitting judges; they should be decided only by the committee set up, consisting of senior advocates and retired judges. In that case, regular courts would not close down,” he declared.
