Buhari will jail Jonathan regime looters —Ogbemudia

President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption is drawing support from unexpected quarters – the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

A senior member of the party and two-time governor of the defunct Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, tells Buhari to jail those who may be indicted on the  looting of the treasury under the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Ogbemudia’s statement came on the heels of the President’s claim, last week, that his administration had uncovered some of the banks in which the treasury looters stashed the stolen funds.

Effort to recover the funds was a key leg of Buhari’s recent visit to the United States (US) where he met President Barack Obama and senior American officials to solicit their cooperation, and told his guests that about $150 billion had been stolen from Nigeria over the last four years, especially from the oil industry where transparency is significantly lacking.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who was on the US trip, followed it up, quoting an unnamed official of the American government as saying a minister under the Jonathan administration stole $6 billion.

“All the information we read in the papers, if it is correct that some people looted the treasury under Jonathan, then they should be brought to book.  If they are convicted, they will, certainly, go to jail”, Ogbemudia, also a retired army general, said in an interview.

But he had a caveat: All the allegations of corruption against the Jonathan administration officials should be properly investigated, to ensure the innocent is not unduly labeled a thief.

The PDP leader also spoke on the search for Oshiomhole’s successor, the National Assembly crisis and the war against Boko Haram, among other issues. Excerpts:

How is the Edo Mass Movement you launched to search for a credible successor to Gov. Oshiomhole doing?

Edo Mass Movement is in top form, it is in every ward, local government and senatorial district in the state. At the appropriate time, Edo Mass Movement will show what it is capable of doing at the 2016 gubernatorial election. We did say the other time that we will support any party that has a good candidate. And if a party produces a candidate that does not meet our standard, we will look elsewhere for a credible one.

What we are going to do is that once a political party comes up with its own candidate, we will invite the candidate for a chat, but if in his wisdom he thinks he does not need us, no problem. If he comes, we will interview him and see what he is capable of doing, ensure that he has a good background, that he will not let the people down.  This is because we don’t want anybody that comes after Oshiomhole to mess up the state.  The media should help us make sure that when political parties are deciding their candidates, they should take into consideration some of the issues we have raised.

Are you looking at the issue of zoning of the governorship to a particular district?

We will not be zoning , we will only interview those that are available. The party has the responsibility of zoning, not EMM because we don’t have the mandate. For example, if ten people come to us and say they  are interested in the governorship, we will sit down and chat; at the end of it all, we will make recommendation to the executive of EMM.