Northerners under the banner of the Concerned Northern Forum have warned President Bola Tinubu not to rely on the report presented to him by Jim Obazee, the special investigator engaged to investigate the actions of the country’s central bank while its Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, is suspended.
The Northerners issued a warning in a statement on Tuesday.
The message, issued by the group’s Chairman, Aliyu Muhammad, encouraged the President to exercise caution since he may be blinded and going over a minefield.
The statement read, “This is so because Jim Obazee himself is not qualified to lead any special investigation, most especially one that has to do with finance given his antecedents.
“The man hired by President Tinubu is at the heart of scandals that involved siphoning and squandering of billions of naira while he was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC), awarding and procurement of contracts to self using proxies, racketeering, acquiring luxury properties worth billions both at home and abroad that his salary could never justify and also accused of sexual harassment.
“A known and tagged man of controversies, with so many dirty cuts on his character and financial records is not the man for such a job. Obazee’s professionalism, patriotism and loyalty are all questioned, his priorities are his financial gains or personal scores he set out to settle. Jim Obazee should be investigated and not the other way round.
“Unless the President is interested in his expertise of personal witch hunt and controversies that are capable of inciting chaos, Jim Obazee has no bussines investigating the CBN or any other financial institution for that matter. Mr President should heed to the action of firing Jim Obazee by his Predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari who is known to despise and fight corruption.”
The panel decided that the apex bank should be scrutinized and probed. However, it said that it should not be done by an individual with doubtful character, integrity, and a history of corruption, graft, and misappropriation of public monies.
The statement asked the president to disregard the report because it is biased and partial, and several of its suggestions are detrimental to Nigeria’s economic well-being.
