Behold, after jaundiced criticism of APC, Wadada clinched party ticket in Nasarawa!

By Audu Amoo

To recapitulate the famous Chinese wisecrack, “may we all live in interesting times.”

These are indeed interesting times in Nigeria, where there is a handsome reward for all sorts of misdemeanors, especially if the offender-in-chief is not just a well-heeled individual but also from a very privileged class.

In such cases, rather than being queried or shamed, he or she gets a pat on the back, as has happened in the recent past.

The foregoing becomes apposite in describing the scenario that just played out – where Senator Ahmed Wadada, who secured the Nasarawa State governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a few weeks ago, most shockingly after attempting a smear campaign against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) sometimes last year!

In case you may be wondering what exactly this is all about, a penny for your thoughts – let me attempt a horse of recall to enable you to get a much clearer view of what really transpired between the NNPCL and Senator Wadada.

It may be recalled that Senator Wadada, as the Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, had alleged that the NNPCL could not account for N210 trillion in its 2017-2023 audited reports. The sum consisted of N103 trillion in unexplained accrued expenses and N107 trillion in sundry receivables.

Naturally, the hefty sum in question made everyone raise their dander if you consider the quantum of investments such a sum can bring to the economy if appropriately utilised.

Amongst the allegations, according to Wadada, was the fact that a single government company had misplaced an amount several times larger than Nigeria’s annual national budget for multiple years combined.

Perhaps the most curious part of the allegation is the claim that N5 billion was spent simply to change the name from NNPC to NNPCL: unbelievable, you would say.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, it was all a farce: a case of pure hogwash and what Williams Shakespeare described as all sounds and fury signifying nothing. But then the damage had already been done.

Indeed, the sad episode of the drama that played out during the public accusation by Wadada is such that it nearly brought the country to its knees while it lasted for the most part because she became a butt of derisive jokes and opprobrium out there because of the pride of place that institution occupies in the scheme of things.

The NNPCL, if you will, is not just a behemoth but a symbol of Nigeria’s strength in oil and gas refining whose fame has gotten far ahead of it – the company has ongoing partnerships and joint venture agreements with several multinational oil majors across the globe so given its enormous status within the ecosystem it plays you can just imagine the kind of bad PR that was for the country.

Please make no mistake; one is not in any way trying to shield the NNPCL from facing any kind of public scrutiny if it calls for it because investments are involved.

But where fiction is passed off as fact, and the truth is completely disregarded, as it turned out, then there is a fundamental problem.

What is really bad about this whole thing is that someone of Senator Wadada’s status made the gaffes, which are akin to what you hear about from random beer parlor discussions by individuals who know next to nothing about how the system works.

What is even more shocking is that such a calibre of person is on his way to becoming the Chief Executive of a State. Now, what kind of leadership should one expect from such a person? That can be better imagined than explained.

Have you also figured out the fact that there is no amount of damage control you can do with the false narrative being peddled by Senator Wadada, which was taken hook, line and sinker by the less discerning audience and thereby plunged the country into unrest if enemy forces decide to use that information as a basis to strike at the NNPCL facilities nationwide?

Another question that comes to mind is this: why should a party like the APC with all its moral posturing easily cape for an individual who, if you like, is a bad representation of how a thought leader should be?

Indeed, if Nigeria were to be a saner clime, somebody like Wadada would have become a pariah by now, but no.

Imagine that such a person would appear in public someday and spew utter bunkum all in the name of trying to catch a cruise?

Perhaps, if Wadada was going to the circus show as a comic character, one would expect to be thoroughly entertained. But unfortunately, if he succeeds at the polls come next year, he is going to be overseeing the affairs of a state which certainly requires a high level of competence and grounding in leadership, human and material resources management.

Can a state like Nasarawa, with the position it occupies in the North Central, afford to gamble away its future or put it in the hands of someone whose managerial competence is in doubt?

Well, for the good people of Nasarawa state, it is not too late, as you have the ultimate power to change the situation: it’s strictly your call.

Amoo writes from Akwanga