Buhari’s War Against Corruption Just Beginning-APC

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Tuesday, June 30th, 2015

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday said President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption is just beginning and that the president is bent on recovering of looted funds by the last administration.

The party said Buhari’s government is just being methodical in its approaches to achieve uncommon performance that will surprise everyone.

Lai Muhammed, National Publicity Secretary, APC at a news conference in Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday said contrary to some individual views, the Buhari led government had taken some measures that had endeared it to both Nigerians and international communities.

“It has been about one month now since President Buhari assumed office, and I can tell you that there has been motion, and there has been movement, contrary to what is being peddled in some quarters,” he said.

He said the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was bent on frustrating the APC led government, pointing out that,” the Buhari administration got the handover notes from the former government just four days before the inauguration thus hampering its efforts to have a clear understanding of the situation on the ground before taking the necessary measures to address it.

According to him, “if any disease is not appropriately diagnosed, it cannot be effectively treated. Any government that is truly desirous of bringing about real change will not act hastily and without the necessary understanding of what is on ground. Coupled with the delay in getting the much-needed information, that takes time.”

On insecurity and fight against terrorism, Muhammed stated that the Buhari Administration had since hit the ground running, stressing that the President had hardly been sworn into office than he embarked on a shuttle diplomacy to rally Nigeria’s neighbours to act as a common front against the terror group Boko Haram.

“The President travelled to Chad and Niger, and then hosted a summit of the Lake Chad Basin Commission that comprised Cameroon, Chad and Niger, with Benin also invited. The fight against corruption ranks very high on the list of the Buhari Administration’s priorities; the fight against terror cannot succeed without putting an end to the kind of prodigious and sickening corruption being witnessed in the country.

“That is why the President also included it on the wish list he took to Germany during the last G7 summit. Thankfully, some Western nations have now assured the Buhari Administration of all possible assistance in its efforts to recover the billions of Naira that was spirited away from the public till by public officers who abused their office during the immediate past administration.”Only Monday, it was revealed that the President has ordered revenue-generating agencies, including the NNPC, FIRS, Customs and NPA, to close all Illegal Revenue Accounts and to also remit all funds generated to the Federation Account. This is a momentous step considering that those illegal accounts are being used to siphon public funds.

“Thanks to the painstaking efforts of President Buhari, Nigerians now know that out of N8.1 trillion generated by the NNPC in three years, N3.8 trillion was not remitted to the Federation Account. Nigerians now know that the cash in the Excess Crude Account has been depleted by 2 billion dollars without explanation.

“A panel of four governors has been set up to investigate what happened to the money that was not remitted to the Federation Account. The rot met by the Buhari Administration is sickening, and the President is working hard to plug all loopholes for siphoning public funds, in addition to recovering looted public funds,” he said.

He said this is just the beginning of the fight against corruption in the country, calling on Nigerians to grab a front row seat so they could watch clearly as events unfold in the ring of anti-corruption fight in the days ahead.

“It will no longer be business as usual as the Buhari Administration seeks to make sure that every kobo of national funds is spent for the benefit of Nigerians, not to fill the deep pockets of a few fat cats. Bringing Nigeria back to the comity of respected nations Since President Buhari’s election on March 28th, 2015, Nigeria has been moving fast to regain its deserved place in the comity of respected nations. Leaders who once shunned Nigeria have been inviting, in droves, President Buhari to visit their countries. The latest is US President Barack Obama, who will play host to our President at the White House on July 20^th,” he said.