Clearing Babachir Lawal or Self-Indictment, By Jibrin Ibrahim

The president owes himself an even greater duty – protecting his personal reputation as a fearless anti-corruption crusader. He can only do so when he takes allegations against his friends and staffers seriously and acts. By appearing to refuse to act, the president would be indicting himself in the court of public opinion.

This week, the big story has been that President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate in response to the lawmakers’ indictment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and their call for his removal and prosecution. The letter provided an explanation, or rather, some excuses why the president would not act. The letter depicts a very high level of incompetence on the part of whoever wrote it but above all appears to make the argument that the presidential team can engage in corruption without consequence, which is the most direct route for the Buhari presidency to lose its credibility as a bastion of anti-corruption.