Although Senator Danjuma Goje has publicly claimed he withdrew as a contender for the post of the Senate presidency in favor of Senator Ahmed Lawan, the anointed candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), based on his own personal convictions that he was doing the right thing for his party, the president and the country, Huhuonline.com can authoritatively report that Goje’s withdrawal from the race was the by-product of arm-twisting and horse-trading involving President Muhammadu Buhari.
Despite official denials on both sides, Aso Rock sources who were privy to the deliberations at the closed-door meeting that preceded Goje’s decision, told Huhuonline.com that the backroom deal struck by the President and Goje was a quid pro quo that had all the underpinnings of corruption. The sources said when Goje was ushered into the meeting by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai; Buhari wasted no time going on the offensive. Looking up from his desk, Buhari was said to have asked Goje in a matter-of-fact way: “what do you want senator; what would it take for you to drop your ambition to contest the senate presidency?”
Apparently taken aback by the president’s bluntness, Goje tried to mumble some disjointed words, but Buhari interjected and put his cards on the table. “You know you are not even supposed to hold public office,” the president reportedly charged, adding: “what you did in Gombe disqualifies you to run for the Senate presidency; so I am giving you the opportunity to make a decision; you either respect the party for the sake of peace or continue down the path of self-destruction and even if you become senate president, you have seen what happened to that Kwara boy, [former Senate President Bukola Saraki]. The choice is yours to make,” Buhari was quoted as saying.
It is worth-recalling that Senator Goje is facing a 21-count charge of misappropriation of N25 billion when he was the governor of Gombe State in 2011. The former Gombe governor was until Thursday a major contender for the post of Senate president. He withdrew from the race after the meeting with President Buhari and immediately endorsed his rival Ahmed Lawan, fueling speculations that Buhari made an offer he could not refuse.
Not surprisingly, less than 24 hours after his meeting with Buhari, lawyers for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told a Federal High Court in Jos, on Friday that the anti-graft agency was transferring Goje’s case to the office of the attorney-general of the federation. Keen observers were quick to point out that Nigeria currently does not have an attorney-general and minister of justice as President Buhari is yet to appoint ministers since he was sworn in over a week ago.
When the eight-year-old case came up for an emergency hearing before Justice Babatunde Quadiri on Friday instead of the original schedule of June 20, the EFCC lead counsel in the case, Wahab Shittu shocked the court when he announced that the Commission was no longer prosecuting the case. “We as EFCC counsels are withdrawing from the matter and handing it over to the office of the Attorney-General for continuation with the prosecution. As you can see, in court today is a State Counsel from the AGF’s office to formally take over this case from us,” Shittu told the court.
The development provoked a public backlash amidst cries of foul play, forcing the EFCC to belatedly undertake some damage-control over the unfolding public embarrassment of presidential endorsement of corruption. The standing view is that the takeover of the case by government’s lawyers was a well-orchestrated ambush by the Buhari administration to stall and eventually kill the case totally. Tony Orilade, a spokesman for the EFCC said on Saturday in Abuja that he was not aware the anti-graft agency had withdrawn its case against Goje and transferred it to the Office of the Attorney-General.
“So, I don’t have any information to give out,” Orilade said. “As soon as I have information in respect thereof, I shall contact you immediately,” was quoted as telling The Guardian. After realizing the futility of his denial since the EFCC action was taken in a public court session in Jos, Orilade backtracked and issued a non-denial denial, to The Guardian; insisting that the EFCC has not withdrawn from the case. He instead claimed the office of the Attorney-General has the right to take over such cases. “We did not withdraw from any case,” Orilade argued. “It is constitutional for the AGF to take over any criminal case at any level.”
Aso Rock sources told Huhuonline.com that the strange and unprecedented decision by the EFCC to withdraw from the case and the subsequent takeover by government’s lawyers is part of the deal reached by Senator Goje for the former Gombe governor to withdraw from the senate presidency race in favor of Senator Ahmed Lawan; the APC anointed candidate for the position.
But Goje himself has categorically denied he had any deal with President Buhari. He said Friday that he stepped down for Lawan because of the respect he had for the party and the president. He also denied being threatened by the Presidency to support his rival. “To say that I have been threatened to support somebody, no,” Goje said. “I am supporting Lawan based on my own conviction that I am doing the right thing for our country, for our president.
