Buhari’s Anti-corruption War Is Not Selective.

Hon Bamidele Baderinwa Samson is a member of the House of Representatives, representing Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency of Ondo State. In this interview with MICHAEL OCHE, he argues that the anti-corruption war of the President Muhammdu Buhari administration is not selective but based on research and intelligence reports gathering

Some people are of the view that the anti-corruption war of the Buhari administration is selective. What is your view?

The anti-corruption war is not selective at all, the Buhari administration has been conducting a lot of research and it is based on intelligence and I believe the government is fighting the war based on facts and figures available to it. So there is no way anybody can claim that the war is selective.

The government is not biased or partial as it is targeting all those involved in corruption or embezzlement of funds.

There have been criticisms that the Buhari administration is favouring some geo-political zones and marginalising others, in terms of appointments, what is your view?

Which zones are being favoured and which ones are being left out? I believe that in order for a government to succeed, you have to appoint those you know you can work with to achieve your agenda. As a good leader you have to appoint credible persons you can work with, not those that have skeletons in their cupboard. It is only in Nigeria that you see people who will turn around and antagonise those that helped them to power. So you can only appoint those you trust, for instance in the case of the ministerial appointments. Those that are complaining, where were they when those people were working for the success of the APC in the last elections? So it is now that those people are being compensated, that the critics are now making noise. For me, I don’t see anything that is wrong with the appointment made by Mr. President; in fact he should be commended by all well-meaning Nigerians for having the courage to appoint credible people to work for the progress of the country.

Also, there has been criticism that most of the appointees are old, very few are youthful or females, what is your take on this?

How many of the appointees are old people? How many of them are older than Mr. President? None! The former governors like Fayemi Fashola etc, are they not youths? They are relatively young people; it is the stressful nature of their work that makes them look older than their ages. They are patriotic and hardworking Nigerians who are actually youths, relatively speaking. On the issue of women, I believe that the percentage of women is quite okay for now; there is nothing to worry about.

As regards your constituency, what other projects have you undertaken in addition to your interventions in the road infrastructure, health and education sectors?

There are still other areas I want to touch including assisting the less privileged members of my constituency. In the health sector I want to add more projects before the end of November.

However, why I have delayed some of the projects is that I lost the co-coordinator-general in charge of my campaign and I had to observe one year mourning for his departed soul before I can continue my projects. Also, a month before his death, my wife was wounded in an attack by the opposition who believe in do-or-die politics. They wounded my wife so I had to take care of her first before I embarked on those projects.

I don’t want to compete with Mr President; he is our father and so I will do mine after he has done his own. I have presented a vehicle to my traditional ruler (Oba). I have also presented 2 of my vehicles to my loyalists and I will do more. As for the ward chairman, I have discovered that many of them are not committed to the party; they are involved in anti-party activities, so because of their behaviour, I have suspended any payment to them for now. The money is in the bank. I want the local government chairman of the party to be in full control of the party machinery; they are more dependable than the ward chairmen. For instance during the ward congresses, I mobilised the ward chairmen long before, but when it was time to perform they started running up and down, doing nothing only engaging in anti-party activities. So I wondered if these people sit down and realise that the money they were given came from my sweat, and not from any rituals or 419? As far as I am concerned they do not have vision. They collect money and waste it at the beer parlours and on women. They don’t plan for their future. So I want to ensure that any money they are given, they sign for it so that they don’t deny collecting the money. The problem with many of the ward politicians is that they are involved in anti-party activities, they will collect money from APC and work for either SDP or PDP, hoping to defect if the other wins. They forget that there is a law banning you from crossing over or cross carpeting to another party; you either remain with one party or resign from that party, you cannot defect or crosscarpet.

I am optimistic that our party, the APC will win the Ondo elections because of our track record of performance so far at the federal level. For instance power has improved, kerosene is selling for 50k, there is regular power supply and things are moving well. The president is not slow; he is taking his time to make sure things are going well. If you rush it, you will make mistakes.