Omokri’s lies against Osinbajo

BY EJIRO THOMPSON

Reno Omokri, a former special assistant on New Media to former president Goodluck Jonathan, is an interesting man. Two years after his former boss lost the April 2015 presidential elections to current President Muhammadu Buhari, he has shown, through his statements and social media posts on issues related to the last administration, that he remains loyal to the man who once held sway in Aso Rock, before that unexpected result at the polls.

But Omokri forgets that loyalty, no matter how noble it seems on the surface, can sometimes be blind – blind to facts and figures, especially if it is clouded by sentiments and not reason.

A few days ago, Omokri claimed, in a statement, that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, ‘lied” against his former boss, Jonathan. He said, “Speaking on Friday the 27th of October 2017 in Lagos at a ‘Greater Nigeria Pastors Conference’, the Vice President said, “Weeks before the 2015 elections, the government then, gave out N100billion in cash and $295million in cash ostensibly for security within two weeks. I make bold to say that the Vice President has once again taken to his characteristic habit of lying.”

Omokri’s attempt to denigrate the personality of the Vice President was a cheap shot and needless, especially coming from one that had once been accused of identity theft in the past. Anyone remembers the scandalous case of Wendell Simlin?

A brief refresher. In February 2014, an American woman had accused Omokri of impersonation and identity theft. Omokri was alleged to have used the now infamous pseudonym, Wendell Simlin, in an article that was circulated to journalists and bloggers. The article tried to link the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi, to Boko Haram. An online medium, Premium Times, later discovered that the document’s digital signature was identical to previous ones sent by Omokri. The real Wendel Simlin was actually the American woman’s son based in California. The digital footprints of the article exposed Omokri. Why, then, should the public believe such a man with a digital penchant for deceit?

Back to his statement on the Vice President, Omokri went on to add that, “Nigerians may recall that only last week, Vice President Osinbajo was in Anambra state where he lied that the present administration had paid $2 billion for the second Niger Bridge.”

For one, Omokri’s allegations hold no water. Secondly, he based his false claims on yet another false claim; that he could only support with more false claims. He would not know, of course, that you cannot build something on nothing!

On the second Niger Bridge and the $2bn mentioned in the media, the Presidency came out with a statement to clarify the figures. The Vice President did actually mean to say N2bn and not $2bn. It wasn’t a statement of deceit, mentioning the dollar currency was simply inadvertent and unintentional. It is important to mention also that the official statement of the VP’s comments on the Bridge clearly stated N2bn, and not $2bn, like what was mentioned in the video clip that was quoted by some media houses. But, of course, Reno will pretend not to have seen that.

So, where is the ‘lie’ here, Pastor Reno?

In April, 2015, weeks after Jonathan had lost the presidential elections, a major national daily, and many others, carried the cover report with the screaming headline, “Jonathan demands N2tr election funds refund, audit.” It said the former president had set up a committee to conduct an audit of how the elections funds were disbursed by party members and state officials.

Two trillion naira. For 10 seconds, please let that figure sink in. N2trn is N100 billion in 20 places.

According to the report, sources within the party and the former government said that “Jonathan was disturbed that despite giving campaign coordinators, ministers, special advisers, close aides and friends, support groups and traditional rulers over N2tr in cash, most of them could not deliver their polling booths and local governments. The (then) President was said to have been further irked by the results of an investigation he ordered.”

The Peoples’ Democratic Party also spent billions on hiring of jets, advertisements and in other areas for campaign purposes.

Since 2015, Nigerians have come to realise the monumental corruption that happened under Jonathan’s watch; from former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison Madueke, to former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, and many other officials in the former administration that have been accused of corruption.

In the infamous $2.1 billion arms scam that almost derailed Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, the former NSA is alleged to have awarded fraudulent contracts to purchase equipment for the military. When President Buhari took over, the renewed vigour displayed by the Nigerian military in tackling the insurgency was there for all Nigerians too see, as they reclaimed territories once under the stronghold of the insurgents and recorded numerous victories.

Also, after the presidential and gubernatorial elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said about 205 of its personnel, including former Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs),  had received part of the N23 billion alleged to have been disbursed by Alison-Madueke to rig the 2015 elections in favour of Jonathan. More facts keep emerging on the litany of fraud that was perpetrated by officials in the former administration.

Again, Omokri said, “Nigerians want to know the truth about the Babachir Lawal probe which has been concluded and handed over to the President many months ago, but of which no action has been taken. Nigerians want to hear the truth about these scandals and not tired lies about looted funds that keep being recycled without proof.”

Recently, President Buhari ordered the sack of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; the Director General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayodele Oke, over allegations of corruption. The President may not have acted sooner because he had to study the report of the investigative panel headed by the Vice President. In the end, the proof was clear. So he did the right thing.

Many Nigerians have also commended the President for this bold move, which they say has sent a strong signal that the administration was, indeed, committed to fighting corruption, despite claims of critics.

One of the key areas of the Buhari administration is to fight corruption, rebuild the economy and improve security. If this move is not any proof that Reno and his likes have asked for, one wonders what more they require. Truth is, this administration is working hard to tackle corruption and block government officials from looting state treasury, like was rife under the last administration. Nigerians have come to trust the Buhari administration, because of the commitment, integrity and forthrightness of the President.

Then, Reno made another feeble attempt to score cheap points by using the illustration of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Jonathan administration as a yardstick. That the Buhari administration implemented it is commendable, there was nothing hurried about it. The framework was already there, why delay it any further if the TSA could block conduits of corruption and then save the country billions? Now, one wonders why the former administration failed to implement it when it had the opportunity to do so.

Again, the claim that President Buhari asked the World Bank to focus only on Northern Nigeria has been proven to be inaccurate. The North East of the country is just a subset of Northern Nigeria. The Presidency and the World Bank have since come out to clarify this. Omokri, being a student of governance and politics, should also know that international institutions and NGOs give more priority to crisis-ridden areas around the world, which the North East of the country falls into as a result of insurgency.

On the issue of the erroneous claim by Omokri of a $25 billion Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation scam, the truth is: there is no $25 billion NNPC scam anywhere. This issue has been clearly addressed several times by both the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and the Presidency. Media claims on social media comments that $25BN worth of oil contracts were awarded by the NNPC or that $25BN in NNPC funds was missing have been proven to be both false. Presidential approvals were only given on Joint Venture financing arrangements, meaning loans to cater for cash call obligations, and not for the procurement of contracts.

In the New Testament, the Bible talked about a foolish man who built his house on the sand, “and when the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

As a pastor, Omorki should know the story by heart. The other lesson to learn from this Bible passage is that one cannot build a strong house on the foundation of lies.

Omokri should heed his own advice; he is the one that needs to turn a new leaf. A word is enough for the wise.

Thompson writes from Abuja