Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
A non-governmental organisation, Conscience Nigeria, has described the attacks on former Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar as a witch-hunt and act of grave injustice against a man who refused to share the state resources with entrenched political interest.
Unknown to many, the group said the former governor lost his reelection bid due to his refusal to share the state resources with some entrenched political interests in the state who deployed borrowed resources to launch a campaign of calumny against him.
This was contained in a statement by the group’s Director of Media, Michael Babatunde, noting that the group was compelled to respond to the unfounded allegations against the former governor because they were not true, fallacious and done to malign his person.
The group, however, cautioned Abubakar’s critics against chasing shadows over some baseless corruption claims.
Babatunde said, “We wish to caution our colleagues in the civil society to be circumspect about what they say to the public and the kind of criticisms they launch against politically exposed persons, especially when these allegations are designed to malign the target and hoodwink the public.
“The EFCC is invited to note that former governor Abubakar had judiciously applied the state’s resources under his leadership and he indeed paid dearly for his good-man style by failing to get a re-election.
“He could have used the state resources to buy his way and get a second term, but he elected to do otherwise,” the group said while praising the commitment of Abubakar to good governance.
“This was a man celebrated and honoured by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) for utilising the Paris Club refunds judiciously,
“Abubakar has indeed justified why we gave him an award in 2017 for his prudent management of the bailout funds allocated to Bauchi State,” he added.
