Nigeria's Buhari decries corruption

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria, April 4 (UPI) -- Corruption at the highest levels of the Nigerian government is hampering the economy of the oil-rich country at every level, retired general and presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari told United Press International in an exclusive interview from the campaign trail in Port Harcourt.

The former military leader who seized power in 1983 following a bloodless coup criticized Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo for allowing corruption to continue unchecked, even within his own administration over the last eight years.

Obasanjo, also a one-time military leader during the 1970s, came to power in 1999 through democratic elections, promising to crack down on the graft that has become an ingrained part of Nigerian politics over the years, particularly as it related to the country's oil industry, Africa's largest.

Since the 1970s, Nigeria has pumped more than $300 billion worth of crude from the southern Niger Delta states, according to estimates. Despite the oil-export boom, most residents of Nigeria's resource-rich south live in poverty, a condition that has given rise to armed militant, criminal and even cult groups that have curtailed oil production by up to 25 percent over the past year.

Evidence of government corruption is particularly evident in the delta, Buhari said, noting the lack of adequate schools, hospitals, housing and infrastructure in Rivers State and particularly in the capital, Port Harcourt, where multimillion dollar homes owned by former and current politicians abut inhabitants of tin-roof hovels without clean water or reliable electricity supplies.

"There is visible evidence of corruption everywhere," he told UPI.

Obasanjo's re-election was widely contested by opponents as fraudulent. Meanwhile, his ruling People's Democratic Party enjoys a majority in both houses of Congress and leadership in Rivers States, where Gov. Peter Odili is considered by critics to be one of the greatest perpetrators of theft of government revenue intended for public spending.

Obasanjo has created a number of commissions to purportedly investigate corrupt officials, though some contend they were merely a government-sanctioned means of eliminating political rivals like Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

The vice president in recent months has become an ardent critic of Obasanjo, whom he accused of stealing from state coffers. Since then, a federal corruption investigation indicted Abubakar and has barred him from running for office on a rival ticket to the PDP.

"(Obasanjo's) fight against corruption is just an afterthought," said Buhari, candidate for the opposition All Nigerian People's Party.

Buhari points to the delta as the source of Nigeria's current woes, noting the increased activity of armed militant groups and criminal gangs.

Over the last 15 months more than 100 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped in and around the delta. Many of those abductions have been attributed to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, whose leaders have called for more equitable distribution of oil wealth and threatened to shut down all petroleum production in the region.

A handful of oil installations have closed and one company has left the delta, causing oil production to slip an estimated 25 percent.

Buhari and many others blame Obasanjo allies for arming MEND and previous militant groups as far back as 2003 in order to intimidate political opponents. But that tactic, he says, has backfired against the administration now that the militants have apparently turned against their former benefactors.

Amid the chaos and violence in the delta, Buhari insists the problem "cannot be solved by force."

"If it (revenue from oil and gas production) had been properly utilized for good schools and roads, there would have been no reason" for gunmen and militants to take up arms, said Buhari, who seized authority over the country following the 1983 election allegedly rife with irregularities.

He said genuine efforts to identify and indict corrupt leaders must be the first move made by Nigeria's next leader.

"Anyone that is going to claim to be in charge of the country, they have to solve the Niger Delta problem," he said.

While Buhari's condemnation of Obasanjo and his allied lawmakers smacks of political rhetoric, some contest that the former general could be the candidate best suited to crack down on corruption.

"In terms of his corruption profile he has a very good record," said one Nigerian political analyst, noting that Buhari's previous two-year turn at Nigeria's helm was marked with efforts to curtail corrupt political practices.

A clean political record could be inconsequential, however, as one member of the ANPP told UPI he was concerned that election rigging will prevent Buhari from assuming the presidency even if he wins the popular vote come April 14.

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