The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the fight of President Muhammadu Buhari against corruption is still alive and well, adding
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the fight of President Muhammadu Buhari against corruption is still alive and well, adding that the present regime has recovered looted funds in excess of N800bn. He said the regime also recorded over 1,400 convictions.
Mohammed also said that the probes of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Social Investment Trust Fund (NSITF), show that the federal government is taking the fight against corruption seriously.
He said, “This administration’s fight against corruption is as strong as ever, and we have the records to back up this claim. This administration has recorded over 1,400 convictions, including high profile ones, and recovered funds in excess of N800bn, not to talk of forfeiture of ill-gotten properties. This is no mean feat.”
Last week, Uche Secondus, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described the anti-graft war as a ruse but the minister said those who do not believe in the anti-corruption fight are “free to dare us.”
“Many, especially naysayers, have misinterpreted these developments as a sign that the Administration’s fight against corruption is waning. In fact, the main opposition PDP has latched on to the developments to call for the resignation of Mr. President, a call that is nothing but infantile! Let me state here and now that the fight against corruption, a cardinal programme of this administration, is alive and well.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, the African Union’s Anti-Corruption Champion, who also has an impeccable reputation globally, remains the driver of the fight and no one, not the least the PDP under whose watch Nigeria was looted dry, can taint his image or reverse the gains of the fight. Anyone who disagrees that the anti-corruption fight is alive and well is free to dare us.
“What the revelations of the past few weeks, especially the investigation of the nation’s anti-corruption Czar, have shown is that this Administration is not ready to sweep any allegation of corruption under the carpet; that there is no sacred cow in this fight, and that – unlike the PDP – we will not cover up for anyone, including the members of our party and government, who face corruption allegations.
“Our fight against corruption is blind to party affiliation, position in government and any other consideration. If the nation’s anti-corruption Czar can be investigated, then the fight against corruption cannot be deemed to be fake, neither can it be said to be waning.”
The minister added that the federal government is putting in place enduring institutional reforms that “will deter acts of corruption.”
