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(NIGERIA)    
Bishop Challenges Yar'Adua to Probe, Deal with Treasury Looters
The Anglican bishop of Enugu, Rt. Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma, has joined the ranks of those calling for the probe of the immediate past regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, challenging President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to deal seriously with the country's treasury looters, if he is not another pretender against corruption. In his address/charge to the third session of the 13th synod of the diocese, holding at St. Peter's Anglican church, Ogbete, Enugu, Bishop Chukwuma said, "given the revelation from the power sector probe, a thorough probe of Obasanjo's government becomes absolutely necessary".

He said probe was indeed good for democracy because it helped to sustain it, hence it should be encouraged, and its result honestly implemented, to serve as a guide in the good governance of the state. The prelate observed that Nigeria earned stupendous income during the Obasanjo regime, yet there was little or nothing to show for the huge sums of money budgeted and spent annually. Describing the situation as really bad, the bishop said what happened was bizarre and a clear bazaar.

He said because there were no sanctions corruption was growing in leaps and bounds, stressing that Nigerians were some of the poorest people in the world despite the oil windfall, simply because the politicians in the country elevated corruption beyond mere greed to the realm of wickedness and evil. He said recent developments presented president Yar'Adua the opportunity to prove his seriousness to fight corruption if he was not pretending about it. The bishop credited Obasanjo with selling darkness at a very exorbitant price to Nigerians and should be made to refund all the money.

However, he expressed fear that "considering the manner Yar'Adua emerged, it is doubtful if he will have the balls to touch the untouchables of the country". On security, bishop Chukwuma noted that the prevailing social inequities and injustice have direct bearing with the rising criminality in the country, exhorting government to decisively tackle the problem of social inequality, effectively police the country's borders and treat national security as a matter of priority.

Abuchi Anueyiagu

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