Ambitious public officials must resign before 2023 – Olawepo-Hashim

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has said ambitious appointed public officials must resign from their positions before the 2023 general elections.

Delivering a paper on Wednesday in Kaduna titled ‘Uthman Dan Fodio: A legacy of Anti-Corruption’ at the Arewa House Public Lecture, Olawepo-Hashim explained that the first step towards stopping corruption in Nigeria is to ensure the forces of corruption do not hijack the elections in the build-up to 2023 elections.

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He also said that politicians with cases of corruption established against them must be shamed and prevented by the electorate from being nominated in the various party elections.

He said, if they cannot be stopped in the primaries, they should be voted against massively at the general elections.

“Every Nigerian must join in the call that appointed public officers aligned with private interests who have political ambitions must now resign their appointments to prevent the complete privatisation of the state by the self-made politicians,” he said.

He then called for the decentralisation of government processes to reduce corruption induced through over-centralisation of power and advocated that “a constitutional amendment should be made to ensure that elected public officers at the federal and state publicly declare their assets upon election to office.

“Mere declaration on the Code of Conduct Bureau asset declaration forms will no longer suffice,” he said.

The director of Arewa House, Dr. Shehu Aliyu, who spoke on behalf of the vice chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Professor Kabiru Bala, urged Nigerians to emulate the modest life Uthman Dan Fodio lived saying, “Even though he established the Sokoto Caliphate, he was not found wanting of embezzling of public funds for personal gain.”