Why Buhari’s corruption war is biased

On Tuesday, December 1, 2015, the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested formerNational Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki in Abuja.

Dasuki has been accused of laundering about N337 billion worth of fundsmeant for the procurement of arms for Nigeria’s military.

Also on Tuesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested the Chairman of Africa Independent Television (AIT), Raymond Dokpesi and former Sokoto State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa in connection with the alleged arms deal fraud.

The EFCC had previously arrested 20 persons who had worked with Dasuki during his tenure.

In October, former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke was arrested in London on suspicions of money laundering.

The arrests have shown that Buhari is serious about fighting corruption, but they've also been met with outrage by people who feel the president is only going after his political opponents.

“While the PDP is not against the war against corruption, we insist that the crusade must be carried out within the limits of the law and not as a guise to persecute and torture opposition elements in the country,” PDP spokesperson, Olisa Metuhsaid in a statement on December 1.

“Our fear is that with the pronouncement of guilt even without being giving the opportunity within his rights as a citizen to state his own side of the story, the President Buhari-led government is sidestepping the laws to ensure that Chief Dokpesi does not get justice in the court, a plot which they want to extend to other PDP leaders,” he added.

The fairness of Buhari’s war against corruption was also recently challenged by American lawyer and author, Bruce Fein.

“In the United States, you declared a policy of "zero tolerance" against corruption...You then swiftly backed off your zero tolerance policy because you would have been its first casualty. Your zero tolerance policy seems to come with a squint to avoid seeing culpability in your political friends,” Fein said in an open letter written to Buhari and published on the Huffington Post on Monday, November 30.

Of a truth, Buhari’s corruption war might seem one-sided and biased, but this situation can’t be helped.

Corruption in Nigeria goes back decades and is so entrenched in the nation’s fabric that any attempt to immediately eradicate the scourge would amount to ripping that fabric to shrapnel-sized bits.

If Buhari were to prosecute and arrest every corrupt politician in the country, he’d be prosecuting all of them.

Every political office holder in Nigeria at this time rose to power on a platform of corruption so not being corrupt wasn’t an option.

For Buhari’s government and anti-corruption war to succeed, he must adopt the American system of plea-dealing, essentially using the small fish to lure the big fish to ensure that the problem is stopped from the very top.

This is a time to ignore the lesser evils and go after those who recklessly looted the country with no care for its citizens or its future.

The Nigeria of our dreams is a place where all corrupt persons are prosecuted and made to pay for their actions. But like all grand dreams, that imaginary Nigeria will take time to materialize.

Citizens need to be patient with Buhari and trust his judgment or else our country stands the risk of being caught in an endless cycle of vengeance all in the name of a war against corruption.