No Way, N’Assembly Won’t Stop Buhari From Fighting Corruption – Rep-elect

The newly elected All Progressives Congress House of Representatives member from Okigwe South Federal Constituency of Imo State, Mr. Chike Okafor, has assured Nigerians that the incoming National Assembly will not prevent the President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, from fighting corruption.

Okafor, in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday, said anyone with corrupt mindset in any tier or arm of government, would either have to align with Buhari’s style or government or incur the wrath of Nigerians.

The lawmaker-elect, who is a former Commissioner for Finance in Imo State, said insinuations that the National Assembly, would slow down the reforms of the incoming government would not arise because only corrupt-free members would be elected as presiding officers of both chambers.
.
He said, “The Nigerian populace are tired of corruption and impunity and they have elected a leader, who is also prepared to work for them. They know him to be incorruptible, knowing his antecedents as someone who cannot be corrupted.

“The man, who is going to emerge as the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and other principal officers of the two chambers, would already know what to expect from Buhari and the expectation of the average Nigerian.

“They know that the right thing to do is to complement the efforts of the President. Even if someone hitherto has some elements of corruption in him, having been part of a system that would be driven by Gen. Buhari, the person cannot afford not to change his mindset to the right path.”

Okafor maintained that no Nigerian, no matter his position, could use the legislature to checkmate Buhari because the President-elect would be on the right track in office.

He added, “Nigerians are no longer naive. We are no longer stupid. For instance, if the President says he will not beat traffic light, or that he won’t stop other motorists from moving when he is passing, will the National Assembly say ‘no’ that.

“This is a man, who will, on assumption of office, dissolve all institutions and seek out Nigerians with integrity to head them.”

He said the President-elect did not need to bring new bills before the National Assembly before he would ‘hit the ground running’ on his anti-corruption crusade.

He said, “We are going to follow the constitution and there is no where in it that corruption is legalised. If he needs new legislation, he can send a bill to the National Assembly but looking at our existing law, he can tackle the menace without seeking new legislation.

“He won’t seek new legislation to tackle the evil called corruption, the laws are there; what we need to do is to apply them. We have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, we have the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian Police and other agencies saddled with the responsibility of tackling corruption.”