Cosmas Omegoh, Lagos
A new twist has been added to the forthcoming political contest in Edo State with an anti-corruption group, Kick Corruption Out of Nigeria, petitioning President Muhammadu Buhari over the candidacy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, less than 24 hours after he endorsed him at the President Villa, Abuja.
The group said the President must have endorsed Ize-Iyamu either because has not been properly briefed on his corruption trial or the P has surrendered his anti-graft campaign for partisan exigencies.
Spokesman of the group Lawrence Chukwu described photographs showing Buhari handing an APC flag to Ize-Iyamu as ‘a tragedy and an indication that once you are on the side of powers that be, you can continue to steal the country blind.’
The petition said the fact that Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, was beside Buhari and Ize-Iyamu in Abuja on Friday demonstrated that corruption is already being celebrated in Nigeria’s number one office and residence.
The group accompanied the petition with Ize-Iyamu’s acclaimed charge sheet, witness statement and orher documents.
In the petition, the group accused the Justice Minister, Abubakar Malami, SAN, of allegedly exerting influence on the Federal High Court to frustrate the case and use security and electoral officers to rig the September 19 election in Edo State.