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The Action Congress (AC) has accused former FCT Minister, Nasir el-Rufai of gross immorality and abuse of office for selling an official guest house of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to himself.
•Condemns police attack on villages in Niger
The Action Congress (AC) has accused former FCT Minister, Nasir el-Rufai of gross immorality and abuse of office for selling an official guest house of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to himself. This is even as the party described police attack on four villages in Niger State as barbaric.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party asked the Federal Government to immediately halt the sale, warning that the issue must not be swept under the carpet.
It also called for an open disclosure of all FCT houses sold, who bought the houses and at what prices.
'There is no way el-Rufai, as the minister in charge of the FCT when he sold the house to himself, can convince anyone that his personal interest did not conflict with his official interest, or the anti-corruption stance of the government under which it served, in the underhand way he bought the house in question," the party said.
'The so-called explanation by the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Administration, Al-Hassan, that Obasanjo approved the sale to el-Rufai, neither holds water nor clears the former minister of the conflict of interest involved in the sale," AC said
It said el-Rufai spent most of his time in office vilifying Abubakar, apparently to discredit him and then buy off his guest house, as it has now been revealed.
'Otherwise, what qualifies el-Rufai to buy the house but did not permit the former VP to also purchase it after he (VP) had shown interest in doing so under the government's policy of selling off all non-essential Federal Government houses?" AC queried.
It said the same el-Rufai, who was a key player in the Obasanjo administration's anti-corruption battle, must not be seen to have thumbed his nose at the so-called anti-graft crusade.
'But the truth is that the anti-corruption battle of the past administration has been exposed for what it is, a charade, going by the fact that key players like el-Rufai hid under the facade of fighting corruption to enrich themselves," AC said.
'A government that spent a better part of its tenure vilifying Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the legitimate placing of funds in an authorized, interest-yielding bank account - not for his ºpersonal benefit - was too blind to see the corruption in one of its ministers selling a property of his ministry to himself," it added
The party recalled that el-Rufai, it was who, allegedly bribed some senators to facilitate his confirmation as minister, saying therefore that he is no longer fit to occupy any public office for his continuously unethical and corrupt behaviour.
In another vein, the party has condemned the police for resorting to self help by the reported ransacking of four villages in Niger State, following the killing of two policemen in the state by suspected hoodlums from the villages.
'The police, which is funded by the tax payers' money, cannot take the laws into its hands and turn its guns, purchased with public funds, against the people they are paid to protect."
'There has to be a better, acceptable way of dealing with such issues without subjecting innocent people, including women and children, to untold harassment and punishment for an offence they know nothing about,"the party said.
AC said while it was against any attack or killing of any member of the security agencies for whatever reasons, the agencies too must refrain from indiscriminate killing of people.
The party called on the new leadership of the police to immediately put an end to such occurrences, which happened at least twice under the last administration.
'We recall that the killing of security agents triggered the massive attacks on the Odi community in Bayelsa state in 1999 and on Zaki Biam in Benue in 2001."
'Those disproportional attacks led to the deaths of several innocent civilians and the total destruction of the two communities in the hands of their own compatriots, who happened to be soldiers or policemen," the party added.
AC described the frequent recourse to self help by security agencies in the country as an unacceptable blot on the country's image around the world, saying it also calls to question the country's commitment to several human rights charters to which it is a signatory.