To be Nigerian president, it’s either you’re a thief, or supported by thieves —Balarabe Musa

One time governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa has said that one is either a thief or supported by thieves to be able to become the President of Nigeria.

The Second Republic governor stated this in a trending video clip circulating on the Facebook, where he was seen hosting a presidential hopeful, Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of an online portal, Sahara Reporters.

Sowore had, during the visit sought Musa’s advice on how to go about his presidential ambition in 2019, and also asked the 81-year-old politician what could have been the reason the older generation of leaders failed the country.

In his response Musa said, “What is the quality of Nigeria’s leadership? The quality of the Nigerian leadership is a thief (sic). Since the end of the Second Republic, how has it been possible in Nigeria to have a political leadership which is not made up of thieves? Of course, there are exceptions… I’m not saying that 100 per cent of the leadership in Nigeria is made up of thieves, no, there are exceptions, but I doubt if there are up to one per cent who are clean…99 per cent are thieves.

“For example, how can you win on the basis of the Nigerian laws and the Nigerian culture; how can you be a Nigerian President without being a thief first? Because it is through stealing that you can make it. Both the political parties and election in Nigeria are based on money power and this money power is equal to corruption. So, this is what you have.

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“We have a socio-economic and political system controlling all developments in the country and the political leadership produced by that system both of which are made up of people who regard self-interest first, public interest second, as opposed to public interest first and self-interest second. Now, how can you have order; how can you have development in a situation like this?

“I gave you the example of the President; nobody can be a President of Nigeria unless he is a thief or supported by thieves. I mean, the fact is clear. You know, the reasonable estimate of the cost of campaigning for presidency in Nigeria is billions. How can you acquire these billions?”

He however argued that the situation was not so before the Second Republic, adding that “(Shehu) Shagari became the President of Nigeria without being a thief.”

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