Femi Adesina, spokesperson for President Muhammadu Buhari, says his principal does not make friends with corrupt people no matter who they are. 

“There’s one thing President Muhammadu Buhari hates with a passion. Grand larceny. Expropriation and purloining. Once it’s confirmed that you are filching from the public purse, you can never be his friend, no matter who you are,” Mr Adesina said.

He made this claim in an article he published on his Facebook account on Thursday night. 

Contrary to Mr Adesina’s claim, however, Mr Buhari has been seen to not only associate with persons perceived to be corrupt, but also endorse corrupt politicians within his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In 2019, Mr Buhari publicly endorsed Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, though Daily Nigerian had exposed Mr Ganduje in a video where he was captured stashing kickbacks in dollars into his flowing robe. 

Lifting Mr Ganduje’s hand up before a crowd at Kofar Mata Stadium, Kano, Mr Buhari called on the people of Kano to support Mr Ganduje’s reelection. 

Peoples Gazette had also in an exclusive report how the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) transfered over N800 million of public funds to Isa Funtua, a long-time political associate of Mr Buhari.

Similarly, The Gazette published a series of damning reports on Bola Tinubu, a former Lagos governor and national leader of Mr Buhari’s APC. 

In the reports, Mr Tinubu was exposed for corruptly enriching himself via questionable tax administration under the guise of consulting for Lagos. 

The newspaper uncovered how Mr Tinubu’s Alpha Beta siphoned billions of Lagos taxpayers money to shell companies.  

However, the Buhari-led federal government has ignored damning reports exposing Mr Tinubu, an alleged major financier of Mr Buhari’s election project in 2015.

Mr Tinubu in January visited Mr Buhari to inform him of plans to contest for president in 2023.