… As Obama Offers Words of Kudos and Caution for the Nation
As concerns grow among his party leaders and supporters for his release from week-long detention, the embattled spokesman for the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, reportedly ran into a fresh trouble with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for tearing his voluntary statement to the commission.
Metuh, who was arrested, last week, for questioning over allegation that he received N400 million of the $2.1 billion arms cash from the Office of National Security Adviser, ONSA, reportedly tore the statement he volunteered earlier to the operatives investigating him.
A top source in the Commission told Vanguard, last night, that a desperate Metuh had resorted to the act when he realised that his ‘hunger strike’ had not softened the resolve of the agency to keep him in custody pending arraignment.
The suspect, competent sources disclosed, was presented with copies of his statement to endorse by the investigating officer, but rather than sign the document, Metuh on realising the weight of his confession, seized the documents and proceeded to tear them.
Metuh was said to be contemplating stuffing the papers into his mouth in a bid to swallow them when he was stopped by operatives, who managed to recover the torn pieces of papers from the PDP spokesman.
A source said the action of Metuh in trying to destroy major evidence in the case was an offence which could attract a separate charge in court.
An official of the EFCC said last night: “The tearing of statement is tantamount to wilful destruction of government property and it is a serious offence.
“Also, the fact that he obstructed operatives from performing their job is also a criminal offence. We will explore the possibility of filing a separate charge against him at the Federal Capital Territory High Court,” the source said.
The development came on a date the PDP caucus in the National Assembly gave the EFCC 48 hours to release or charge Metuh to court or face its wrath without taking into consideration the weight of his alleged offence.
The action of the PDP caucus runs contrary to the Deputy Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Abdullahi Jalko, who, Monday, disowned Metuh and other PDP chieftains, who used their companies to obtain money from the ONSA.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja, Jalo asked Metuh and others named in the scandal to answer for their actions, as the party did not send them to obtain the said huge sums of money for any purpose.
Jalo also asked former President Jonathan to come out and speak on the matter, as he was alive and should not keep sealed lips over the controversial issue that had dampened Nigeria’s image.
The PDP had, however, distanced itself from Jalo, saying that he was on his own over the statement he made against Jonathan, Metuh and other party faithful, now standing trials.
In the meantime, more than 20 presidential candidates have told the story of President Obama’s America for the past year.
On Tuesday, Obama had the country’s microphone to himself for perhaps the final time and told his own story, admitting some of the problems that his potential successors lament but, in effect, suggesting they are glossing over a long list of accomplishments.
Obama’s final State of the Union speech was framed around four issues that America must address over the next decade, concerns the president acknowledged he could not fully resolve in his tenure.
Obama highlighted the growing inequality between the rich and the rest of America, the challenge of new technology that is putting some Americans out of work, a resurgent Russia, the rise of ISIS, the inability to build a consensus around tackling climate change and a political system that is, at times, dysfunctional.
“Democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest. It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better,” the president said. “There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.”
Obama included several lines that seemed to be direct rebuttals of the rhetoric of Donald Trump, an acknowledgment that the mogul seems to have convinced some Americans of his controversial views.
“We need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion,” Obama said. “This isn’t a matter of political correctness. It’s a matter of understanding what makes us strong.”
He added, “When politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid bullied, that doesn’t make us safer. That’s not telling it like it is. It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. And it betrays who we are as a country.”
And Obama, who won the presidency on a campaign of hope and change, was forced to urge Americans to be optimistic again about the potential of politics.
“It’s easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn’t possible, and politics is hopeless,” he said …. “So, my fellow Americans, whatever you may believe, whether you prefer one party or no party, our collective future depends on your willingness to uphold your obligations as a citizen.”
At the same time, Obama used his four subject areas that the U.S. must grapple with (the economy, climate change, national security and divisive politics) to do a lot of bragging. Obama was rejecting the perspective of Trump, who has said America is failing and he will restore it to greatness, and candidates in both parties who argue the economy is struggling.
“The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period,” he said. “It’s not even close. It’s not even close. It’s not even close.”
He added, “If you doubt America’s commitment — or mine — to see that justice is done, ask Osama bin Laden.”
“Iran has rolled back its nuclear program, shipped out its uranium stockpile, and the world has avoided another war,” he noted, listing another foreign policy accomplishment.
On the economy, the president argued, “the United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We’re in the middle of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history.”
“Gas under two bucks a gallon ain’t bad either,” he said at another point in the speech.
Obama’s speech was a marked contrast from the address he delivered in July 2004 that brought him to the attention of many Americans for the first time. That speech was short on policy but long on aspiration.
“There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America; there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America,” Obama told a crowd of Democrats in Boston at the party’s national convention that year.
Vanguard with additional report from NBC
