‘Nigerian leaders have been greedy and unprincipled’ - Balarabe Musa

A former governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa has said the prolonged incarceration of Hamza Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer to former head of state, Sani Abacha is responsible for his recent outburst at the resumed hearing of his involvement in the of Kudirat Abiola. 

Mr Musa says: The treatment of Mustapha in spite of everything shows that governments during this period were unable to know their needs and the secrets involved in providing them with those needs. That’s why they treated Mustapha with disgrace, and lack of caution. With the result that Mustapha is now forced to protect himself by whatever means available to him without undermining his own case. In his own case, he did what the government could not do without undermining his office. 

“This is an evidence that we have not been having capable governments that know how to behave particularly under extreme conditions as was the case during Abacha’s time and even up till today,” Mr Musa said. 

The politician maintains that the power play by officials in government is what made Mr Al-Mustapha to become desperate and resort to defending himself by opening up on the conduct of the officials. “He is making Nigerians aware of the power game in Nigerian politics from that time till today. Because he is revealing the desperation of government which led to misconduct by government. For example, his allegations of the amount paid to individuals or leaders in the Southwest just for the purpose of appeasing them over the death of MKO Abiola. 

“This tells Nigerians quite a lot, but what I want to tell Nigerians is that they should not see it as just the Southwest being greedy, being unprincipled. No, it is all Nigerian leaders that have been greedy and unprincipled particularly the Southwest and the North who have been controlling power since the 1966 coup after which the Southeast was marginalised. Now Mustapha has revealed the shameful role the leaders of the Southwest played.” 

Mr Musa who wants northern leaders investigated because of their role in the zoning system also alleged that the same leaders who opposed President Goodluck Jonathan for his abandonment of the zoning system which they considered the prerogative of the North, were the same people who conspired to work for Mr Jonathan. While asserting that Mr Al-Mustapha’s case should continue in the court, the former Kaduna State governor called on President Jonathan to establish a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the credibility of Mr Al-Mustapha’s revelations for the sake of justice and Nigerians. 

“A judgment should be delivered and the president should understand his role in Nigeria particularly as someone from the minority area who needs justice more than someone from the majority areas,” he said. He added that the president should use his executive position to ensure that this case is concluded fairly.