Buhari Set To Order Jonathan’s Arrest As ex-President Meets With His Former Ministers

Former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan is meeting with ministers who served in his cabinet today to discuss the ongoing investigation of their government by the Buhari administration.

President Buhari (left) might order the arrest of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan (right)

Since assuming office in May, President Muhammadu Buhari has made the fight against corruption the mainstay of his government.

Anti-fraud investigators from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested several ministers, particularly in relation to the $2.1bn arms scandal in which money voted for military purposes was shared among Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains.

Over the last week, presidency officials have said it is fine for the EFCC to extend the probe to Dr Goodluck himself, which has created panic among PDP members.

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On Friday, senate leader, Senator Ali Ndume, said President Buhari should authorise the EFCC to probe and prosecute Dr Jonathan.

Senator Ndume said:

Nobody is supposed to be above the law. If Jonathan is a culprit, he should face the law. If there is evidence that the former president should face the law, then, he should. After all, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Mallam Garba Shehu, President Buhari's spokesman, said that did not sign any pact with Dr Jonathan or any past president to exempt them from a probe.

According to Mallam Shehu, President Buhari, being an open person, would never go into a secret pact with anybody, especially on his administration’s ongoing anti-graft war.

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A leading PDP member said the pressure on President Buhari to probe Dr Jonathan would form part of the discussion when the ex-ministers meet the former president today.

Some PDP leaders have already called on President Buhari not to succumb to pressure being mounted on him to probe Dr Jonathan, adding that doing so would amount to laying a bad precedent.

Chief Ebenezer Babatope, a PDP board of trustees member, urged the Buhari-led federal government not to probe Dr Jonathan, adding that doing so would humiliate the former president.

He described those calling for the probe of Dr Jonathan as enemies of the country, adding that the former president should not be probed unless it becomes brazenly open that a lot of thefts are traced to him.

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Chief Babatope said;

The late sage, Pa Obafemi Awolowo, said you must not humiliate your leadership. When you decide to humiliate your leadership, it is not Jonathan that you’re humiliating, it is your values that you are casting aspersions on.

When reminded that the PDP's national publicity secretary Olisa Metuh, and a former chief of defence staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh said Dr Jonathan approved the monies that they allegedly got, Chief Babatope added the duo reserved the right to tender their positions in court.

A former special assistant Dr Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe, said there might be nothing wrong in Buhari asking Jonathan to account for his actions while in office but that the president should be weary of setting a bad precedent.