Obasanjo’s letter to Jonathan should be taken seriously — Rep Mbadiwe

Hon. Eddie Mbadiwe is the Deputy Chairman, House of Representative Committee on National Security and Intelligence. He represents Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State. In this interview with Vanguard, he posits that issues raised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his recent letter to President Goodluck Jonathan should be taken very seriously. Excerpts:
Just days after Speaker Aminu Tambuwal claimed that President Jonathan is not fighting corruption, former President Obasanjo wrote the president expressing the same views. What is your reaction?
To be honest with you, the fight against corruption should be done frontally. And it has to start with the presidency. I have said this many times: corruption can be destroyed very easily. If for instance, Eddie Mbadiwe is the President and I say I will not take or give bribe and I enforce it, corruption will die a natural death. So, that’s what the Speaker is saying that the body language of Mr. President tends to gloss over corruption. And he mentioned one or two things where the House is investigating and the presidency set up a counter investigation. I mean, which report of the committees are you going to handle? Is it the one the President set up or the one the House set up?
That’s what he means by saying that the body language does not support the fight. On the other issue, I have a lot of respect for former President Olusegun Obasanjo personally, and I think that he thought about this a long time before he wrote that letter.
A number of issues were raised which I think should not be dismissed with a wave of hand, because these are fundamental issues. A number of them, he wrote from personal experience. The party side of it, I will leave alone because I am not in PDP but the ones that concern this nation, I think should not be waved away. If for instance, he says there is a Killer Squad being set up to target some people, it’s fundamentally dangerous.

Category: