President Muhammadu Buhari has identified corruption as the major link between Nigeria’s wealth and poverty, as well as the peace and security of the nation.
He stated this on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while signing the country’s Executive Order 6, on the preservation of assets connected with serious corruption.
He said: “I am delighted to welcome you all to this very important occasion which is another milestone in the fight against corruption- a project that is very crucial to the viability and continuous well-being of this country. Whilst there are many reasons why Nigeria has been struggling; regrettably, the most unfortunate cause of great disparity between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is endemic corruption.
There is also a very strong link between corruption, peace and security. Unfortunately, corruption is everywhere; at all levels of government, and every stratum of our society. Without doubt, corruption constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the well-being, national security, and economy of Nigeria.”
Fight Against Corruption
The President said the Nigerian government would remain well focused on the fight against corruption, until it succeeds in the fight against the monster-corruption.
“As a government, and in furtherance of our anti-corruption programme, we have since inception engaged in multi-sectoral reforms on anti-corruption including the enforcement of Treasury Single Account (TSA), strict implementation of the Bank Verification Number Policy, Signing of the Open Government Partnership, and a lot of efforts have gone into building and development of our anti-corruption institutions among others.
We have so far kept faith with our promise and shall remain committed thereto until Nigeria triumphs over the evil of corruption, attain a prosperous economic status and surmounts all her security challenges. Like I have many times said, if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will sooner-or later kill Nigeria. Therefore, after three years in office, it is an opportune time to further review our achievements against set goals, and where necessary; re-appraise our strategy in order to achieve our outstanding objectives,” he explained
Strengthen Policies
He stated that Nigeria would continue to strengthen its policies and institutions, in order to succeed in the fight against corruption.
“As this real battle continues, we still need to strengthen our policies and institutions in order to successfully fight corruption. We recognise that there are more grounds to cover in the war against corruption, and we are prepared to go out to possess those lands by cutting off any means that facilitates corruption and supports its growth.
“It has thus become necessary to re-kit and re-tool our arsenal to be able to effectively tackle corruption’s perilous counter-attack against the Nigerian State. Accordingly, the Federal Government of Nigeria has declared a national emergency to deal with that crisis. In this regard, the Federal Government of Nigeria in line with its anti-corruption strategy seeks to ensure that the ends of justice is not defeated or compromised by persons involved in a case or complaint of corruption,” the President stated.
Assets Linked to corruption
Giving the value of assets currently linked to corruption cases, the President said “From available records, the aggregate value of funds involved in some on-going prosecution of high profile corruption related cases stands at N595, 409,838,452.25k. This amount is in excess of the N500 billion approved for Social Investment Programme in the 2018 Budget, which sum would be applied to cater for home grown school feeding programme, government economic empowerment programme, N-Power Job Creation Programme, Conditional Cash Transfers, etc. Cumulatively, scores of millions of Nigerian citizens would benefit from those programmes.”
He expressed his satisfaction with the way African countries are emulating Nigeria, by embracing the fight against corruption.
“Happily, the fight against corruption is gaining more momentum among the African States. We just returned from the African Anti-Corruption Year event at Nouakchott, Mauritania where all African Heads of State were gathered to promote the anti-corruption message. Nigeria and 39 other African States have ratified the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. I pledge to elevate the African Union anti-corruption agenda at the next session of the United Nations General Assembly in September,” he said.
He called on all stakeholders, and every Nigerian to give effect to the Executive Order, in order to preserve Nigeria’s political and economic systems, and the continuous progress of the Nigerian State from the serious threat of corruption.
Confidence Okwuchi
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