BEVERLY HILLS, January 06, (THEWILL) – The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has charged Nigerian journalists to do an independent investigation of the corruption allegations leveled against stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to see that they are not being unjustly prosecuted.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, and the party’s former Acting National Chairman, Haliru Bello, are currently under the spotlight of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over allegations of corruption, with the latter appearing for trial before an Abuja court in a wheelchair. Metuh was arrested and quizzed by the anti-graft agency on Tuesday and is yet to be released as at press time.
The former ruling party has already alleged persecution, claiming that the anti-graft agencies were being dictated to by President Muhammadu Buhari. The party, in an statement issued by its National Secretary, Prof. Adewale Oladipo, stressed that intelligence at its disposal indicates that the onslaught against Metuh is part of “a larger script by the government to ensure that PDP wings are finally clipped in their mission to install a dictatorial one-party state in the country.”
But the Information minister, while dismissing this claim on Wednesday, asserted that Buhari was not dictating to the agencies on who to arrest or prosecute.
According to him, “I think the first point to make is that this government is not micro-managing any of the anti-graft agencies. I know for a fact that they don’t contact the president or anybody before they do their job.
“I think the media also has to do more than they are doing right now. They should investigate these allegations and also make their independent judgment about it.
“Honestly, if the EFCC or ICPC says that they are able to trace certain amount of money to my account, I don’t want you to believe it. I want you to also ask for proof. Do your investigation.
“I can assure you that this government, no functionary in government micro-manages or directs the EFCC or ICPC on who to arrest and who not to arrest.”
