Seven most fraudulent activities of the President Buhari-APC’s regime illustrated
There are reasons why the United States and its western allies are blatantly skeptical about the fragile regime of President Muhammadu and his party, the All Progressive Congress. A recurring events of attempts to cover up outrageous scandals tied to the regime might be creating a lack trust among Nigeria’s western allies, and the world is watching. For a country battling with global image-cleanup over fraud, fabricating documents of core political issues tied to the government may be politically and economically disastrous.
For instance, Nigeria is the 136 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived. President Buhari had vowed in his inauguration to fight corruption, but his involvement in major corrupt activities leaves a substantial dent. According to José Ugaz, chair of Transparency International, “Nigeria’s new president has committed to fight corruption. Nigerians must hold him to that promise and the corrupt must be brought to justice.”
Here are seven most fraudulent activities of the President Buhari-APC’s Regime;
No. 1: Fabrication of a fake Nigerian passport to cover up Mrs. Buhari’s fraud case
■ Mid June 2016, President Buhari’s government through its anti-fraud agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) fabricated a fake Nigerian passport with the name “Aisha Muhammadu Buhari” to cover the alleged involvement of Aisha Buhari (the First lady) in the money laundering case involving a former United States congressman, William J. Jefferson. Jefferson was sentenced to 13 years in prison 2009 for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in a case that also involved a former Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar and the wife, Jennifer Douglas Abubakar. In this process, Mrs. Buhari through the regime had instigated a media campaign, claiming it was a different “Aisha Buhari” that was mentioned in the case. Discrepancies in the fake passport revealed recklessly doctored print modifications, including unmatched date of birth and trails of editing.
No. 2 Forgery of President Buhari’s school-leaving certificate
■ In a heated presidential campaign moment, 2014, Premium Times disgracefully released what was believed to be Buhari’s certificate, but suspicions quickly emerged; the statement was printed on the letter head paper of the Katsina State Ministry of Education, showing an examination took place in 1961 with a recent picture (2014) of the candidate, Buhari.
Such fraud related to a presidential candidate leaves two major implications, The Guardian wrote; it validates the long time perception that Nigeria is the most fraudulent country in the world; and also, most foreign colleges, institutions, and scholarly fellowships might start scrutinizing documents from Nigerians with some impracticable rules.
No. 3. Fabrication of Army War College Foundation & Alumni Affairs website in a new Google account
■ The defensive posture taken by the Buhari campaign in defending his shady academic records rekindles his issues with certificates. A school where Buhari claimed he attended a 6-month training but has since erased the information from Wikipedia surfaced on the Social Media walls in a fraudulent way – showing photos of great alumni (with Buhari superimposed among them). The images were displayed over a scanned Wikipedia page in a new Google blog account (See internet addresses in arrows 1&2).
No. 4. The “Bring Back the Girls” Mystery
■ The report two years ago, that radical Islamists with the militant group Boko Haram stormed a school in Chibok, Nigeria, kidnapping 276 teen girls unveiled the worst side of Nigeria’s corrupt system. The event fraudulently used by Buhari, and his party, the APC to push their election bid sparked global outrage, with high-profile personalities taking pictures on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag, #BringBackOurGirls. All questions regarding the missing girls were suppressed while local authorities in Borno State conspired with Government opposition then to frustrate all avenues to investigate the incident. Buhari capitalized on this travesty to energize his campaign, vowing to rescue the girls within one month of his inauguration.
Three story reports emanating from the regime sources recently aggravated the mystery surrounding the missing girls, leaving the regime with little or no credibility. A breaking news in April claimed that Boko Haram was afraid of Buhari and had abandoned the 300 abducted girls in Sambisa Forest. (Image 1: Aljazeera reporting this live from Abuja); Image 2 shows another breaking news – More abducted girls/women freed – thanks to the General. His victory alone sent the terrorists packing; and then image 3, shows how an APC propagandist, Oby Ezekwesili visited the General she had been campaigning for, with a renewed call to negotiate a rescue.
Here are the questions that baffled the international community; which girls are Oby Ezekwesil bringing back- the ones already rescued? Ezekwesili was aware that Buhari had promised to bring back the girls within 30 day of his administration. If the girls were back – what was she doing in Aso Rock? If they were not back – did she ask the General why?
No. 5. The fake Boko Haram negotiator
■ In a desperate move September 2014, to set confusion among the populace over accusations of Buhari’s link to the terrorist group, Boko Haram, the APC initiated a story about a negotiator called Dr Stephen Davis from Australia, claiming that the then Chief of army staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika was fully supporting the Boko Haram leadership by working with them and conducting limited attacks on their members under agreement.
A “Photoshop” image that accompanied their stories and claims gave up their strategy. An image of a said negotiator was cut and superimposed into a group photo of individuals depicted as Boko Haram terrorists. The scam created an outrage in the social media and casted doubts on APC-Buhari’s credibility when it was in fact discovered that there was no negotiator.
No. 6. Buhari’s fraudulent campaign against his predecessor to boost his war against corruption
■ To boost his much publicized campaign against corruption and gather international attention, Buhari’s regime initiated a fraudulent campaign against his predecessors with claims it had recovered millions of stolen currency from them. Above photos are latest immaturely composed photos of former president Jonathan floated by the Buhari regime to soften the devastations of their internal crisis and shield the ludicrous attention generated by president.
On June 18, the picture on the right was anonymously sent to our newsroom for publication but was rejected for fakeness. The photo failed every photo authenticity test including an asymmetrical composition, incomparable perspective, and a lack of component proportionality. (Also see the background in the red circle, and the arrowed ‘head’ image). Days later, the same photo was enhanced, and published in the social media.
No. 7. Aisha’s fake photo with the United States First Lady, Michelle Obama
■ In a heated political exchange late June, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose had questioned Mrs. Buhari’s integrity, citing her involvement in the Jefferson’s fraud, and challenging her to travel to the United States as a proof of innocence. Fayose was right in his challenge for several reasons; Mrs. Buhari and others listed as witnesses in the case had avoided the United States for fear of prosecution at the time. The regime media handlers thus fabricated a photo image of Mrs. Buhari and Mrs. Obama, to float a fictitious impression of circumstance. Buhari’s propaganda machine actually used Aisha’s face from another photo to counterfeit their image of Michael and Aisha. The aim is to deceive Nigerians that Aisha had visited the White House and had nothing to fear about her alleged fraud case in the US. The photo (on the right) showing Michelle Obama and Aisha Buhari is fake. The real photo (left) is Michelle Obama and Graca Machel Mandela taken in 2011 when Michelle met with the Mandelas in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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