A member of the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has described the plans by the current government to probe the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan as an exercise in futility.
Babatope, while speaking with Punch, said the ex-President had not done anything wrong to warrant being probed.
He said, “Any probe of ex-President Jonathan will be an exercise in futility because he has done nothing wrong to warrant any probe.”
“When Papa Obafemi Awolowo was alive, he described probe as an exercise in futility.”
When reminded that Awolowo was speaking in view of the prevailing impunity of the time, Babatope said “the words of the sage remains relevant to our present day realities”.
Babatope was apparently reacting to a recent call by the Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, for the prosecution of Jonathan.
Bamgbola, who spoke in Lagos on Saturday at an interdenominational service, said nobody should be spared in the ongoing anti-corruption war.
He said, “What is wrong with it? A former President of Peru (Alberto Fujimori) was jailed. Also, a popular Prime Minister of Israel (Ehud Olmert) was jailed. If a nation puts you in a position of trust and you betray that trust, you should go to jail no matter who you are. I have no sympathy for anybody. Just make sure you get it right.”
But the former Minister of Transport said that the anti-corruption war appeared to be predicated on vendetta.
Babatope said, “What are they probing: security votes under Jonathan? During Buhari’s first time in power as a military ruler, he cast many governors into jail on account of misappropriation of security votes.
“This is what we are witnessing again. We have people who have gone to court to challenge their trials. Let’s wait and see. The PDP will support the anti-corruption war but we won’t accept an anti-corruption war tinged with vendetta.”
Babatope said the PDP will chase out the APC in 2019 because Nigerians could now see the difference between the two parties.
“I am in Abuja for the election of our national chairman. We are electing our chairman from the North-East. Our party is putting everything together; we will come back stronger and better. Our members should not give up hope. We are chasing out the APC in 2019,” he said.