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  • News - South East - Anambra
  • Updated: September 11, 2020

Olisa Metuh's Imprisonment Smacks Of Selective Justice, Says South East Group

Olisa Metuh's Imprisonment Smacks Of Selective Justice, Says

The Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), the umbrella body of all the youth organizations in the South East geopolitical zone, has asserted that the imprisonment of the former spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, has a taste of injustice, questioning the exclusion of some prominent men in the ruling party linked with acts of corruption.

The youths said nothing could best describe the imprisonment of the PDP stalwart by the Muhammadu Buhari administration other than the fact that the government is targeting Ndigbo in its fight against corruption.

According to them, it was only a selective justice that could have led to the prosecution and imprisonment of Metuh, who was never a government official, while those who held sway in government were allowed to walk free.

Recall that in February 2020, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, sentenced Metuh to seven years in prison for laundering N400 million.

COSEYL  in a statement signed by Goodluck Egwu Ibem, its President-General and Kanice Igwe, Secretary-General, sent to AllNews on Thursday, therefore, called on the Nigerian government to prosecute the chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) linked to various acts of corruption in the country.

"As a youthful coalition based in the Southeast and guided by the principle of social justice, equity and fair play, we are concerned that Metuh should bag seven years for being handed the sum of 400, 000 000 (four hundred million naira) from the alleged 2.1 billion dollars arms purchase fund to bankroll party activities whereas those who gave him the said sum got acquittal," COSEYL's release read.

"This does not, to us, represent justice. Could it be because Metuh is from the Southeast (the unfortunate 5 per cent vote base) that he got prison sentence? 

"Having followed the Metuh case from the get-go of things, we wish to remind the APC-led federal government the implications of this very incarceration even though it may wish to assert itself as not being an interested party.

"There is no logical sense and justice to this, we believe. We condemn the misuse of public fund let alone one set aside for arms procurement of arms to wedge war on terror but what then is the notion of justice for a government whose moralization and sloganeering seem to anchor on anti-corruption when a party is not made to face the law as justice demands?

"Again, we are not unaware of delayed prosecutions within the APC federal government. To highlight this, we wish to remind Nigeria and Nigerians that the past secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Mr. Babachir David Lawal was said to have diverted over 500 million naira into personal use under the pretext of "grass cutting" what, however, leaves much to be desired remains that with the manner the case had been handled prosecution is far from possible.

"In the same vein do we recall that minister of transport, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, was acused of channeling into APC 2015 campaign the sum of 40 billion naira yet the minister is not facing any charge. What then do we say about the case of Chief Ahmed Bola Tinubu, an APC chieftain, in whose house bullion van stashed with cash was seen driven during the last general elections?

"Governor Ganduje of Kano state was seen in a leaked clip stuffing dollar bills in his cloth and yet nothing has been heard of his prosecution, in fact he is today championing the war against corruption! President Buhari and other APC bigwigs held a moral court in his defence and that was it.

"A statement was credited to the former party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, as stating that even a corrupt official from opposition crosses over to APC his sins will be forgiven, could this be why members of APC accused of corruption and fraud are walking the street free? We wish to remind APC that before its emergence was PDP for sixteen years, and as for PDP, history knows better.

"Even today, after receiving petitions from civil society groups the EFCC has yet to go after the Jagaban. While these and more are within public knowledge and record we wish to remind the federal government that the purported war against corruption is not only bias but has ethnic colouration and we will not take it lying down.

"If today Metuh is serving term being a party official what about serving APC government officials who today are in error of financial discipline? Metuh, it should be recalled, was not a government official under oath but a party spokesperson who may have been ignorant of the source of the money (this is not to hold brief for him).

"Buhari should remember that he has not come clean in all this. Buhari declared his asset to the cheers and support of Nigerian voters during 2014/15 campaign but could not do same in 2019. Is this how to lead a war against corruption?

READ ALSO: South East Group Reacts To Acho Elendu's Appointment As Registrar Of ABSU

"The world is watching and we have been termed "fantastically corrupt" if Buhari fails to be above board the image of this great nation stands to suffer adversely. Justice has no ethnic affiliation and should not be made to look so."

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