Why is Jonathan absent from Buhari’s looters’ list?

There was a first list and on Easter Sunday, we received a second containing 23 names. Interestingly the name 'Goodluck Jonathan' is nowhere near both lists which ostensibly has the blessings of President Muhammadu Buhari.

This piece isn’t saying Jonathan is culpable of looting or that all those who appeared on that list are guilty as charged. Far from it. This piece only seeks to ask if some names are being deliberately left out of the list only because they are ‘sacred cows’.

Mohammed said the APC led federal government had been provoked by the PDP into making the looters’ list public.

Challenged

“The PDP has challenged us to name the looters under their watch. They said they did not loot the treasury. Well, I am sure they know that the treasury was looted dry under their watch. Yet they decided to grandstand. This shows the hollowness of their apology. Let's just give them a teaser with this list”, Alhaji Mohammed said triumphantly.

In unveiling the second list, Mohammed scoffed at the PDP for saying the first list was too short.

“At the press conference where the list was released, I did say it was a tip of the iceberg. Apparently, this does not mean anything to people whose style is to comment on issues they barely understand, or just to shoot down anything coming from the government.

“The Federal Government has a large number of alleged looters on its list. What was the PDP expecting when it challenged the FG to name the looters of the public treasury under the party’s watch? Did the PDP actually believe that the massive looting under its watch was a joke?”

'Looters' Inc

Mohammed’s looters’ list has names like PDP national Chairman Uche Secondus, former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, Senator Stella Oduah, former CG of Customs Inde Dikko, former Petroleum Resources minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Plateau Governor Jonah Jang, former PDP spokesperson Olisa Metuh, former Jonathan election campaign boss Femi Fani-Kayode, AIT owner Raymond Dokpesi and former SSA to President Jonathan on domestic matters Dudafa Waripamo-Owei, among others.

According to the list, everyone named stole hundreds of millions to billions of Naira. They are also a couple of persons on that list who directly served under Jonathan and who have told us in court statements that they were only carrying out Jonathan’s instructions in disbursement of monies.

In court testimonies, a couple of the accused persons say they acted on instructions handed down by the nation's Commander-in-Chief at the time, Goodluck Jonathan.

Election

Only recently, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stopped short of mentioning Jonathan when he said during the last administration, the sums of N150billion and $289million were withdrawn from the treasury just days before the 2015 general election.

If the federal government is naming just about everyone who worked under Jonathan in its list of looters, why is the man who allegedly instructed that monies be withdrawn and passed around in his name, not getting any kind of mention? If anything, Jonathan's name has been mentioned subliminally by government officials.

Nah, we want more. Some of the persons mentioned have promised to sue the federal government and just as well.

However, we are either fighting an all-out corruption war or we are not. If Olisa Metuh for instance says he only acted on Jonathan’s instructions and Diezani and Dasuki have said something similar in media and court statements, it only makes sense to have Jonathan’s name at the top of the list.

Or maybe a third list prominently featuring Jonathan’s name is well underway. You never know.