President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in
the United States vowed that his
administration would trace the accounts of
individuals who stashed away ill-gotten
oil money, freeze and recover the loot and
prosecute the culprits.
BY GARBA SHEHU AND SAHARA REPORTERS
President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in
the United States vowed that his
administration would trace the accounts
of individuals who stashed away ill-gotten oil
money, freeze and recover the loot and prosecute
the culprits.
President Muhammadu Buhari
Reacting to questions from members of
Nigerians In Diaspora Organization (NIDO) in the
United States and Canada at the Nigerian
Embassy in Washington DC on the third day of
his visit, the President lamented that “Corruption
in Nigeria has virtually developed into a culture
where honest people are abused.”
According to him, “250,000 barrels per day of
Nigerian crude are being stolen and people sell
and put the money into individual accounts,”
adding that the United States and other
developed countries “are helping us to trace
such accounts now.
We will ask that such accounts be frozen and
prosecute the persons. The amount involved is
mind-boggling. Some former ministers were
selling about one million barrels per day. I assure
you that we will trace and repatriate such money
and use the documents to prosecute them. A lot
of damage has been done to the integrity of
Nigeria with individuals and institutions already
compromised.”
Citing the example of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), President Buhari
said unlike what obtained during his tenure as
Federal Commissioner for Petroleum under
military regime when the NNPC had only two
traceable accounts before paying oil proceeds
into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), “now
everybody is doing anyhow.”
The President, who expressed skepticism on the
existence of oil subsidy, said if subsidy was
removed, transport, housing and food prices
would go out of control and the average worker
would suffer untold hardship.
While agreeing that the “economy is in an
extremely bad shape,” following 16 years of bad
government by the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) which ran down the oil refineries and had
the “treasury in their pockets,” he said the All
Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration
would fulfill its three-pronged campaign
manifesto of providing security, turning around
the economy with a major focus on youth
employment and fighting corruption. According to
him, agriculture and mining would receive priority
attention as faster job-creation avenues for the
teeming unemployed youth, adding that some
foreign investors had agreed to take advantage
of the immense business opportunities in Nigeria.
President Buhari when asked if the Federal
Government (FG) would agree to negotiate with
the Boko Haram insurgent and terrorist
organization to pave way for the release of the
abducted Chibok schoolgirls, replied that the FG
would only negotiate if genuine and confirmed
leaders of the militant sect came forward and
convinced the FG of the current conditions of the
girls, their location and the sect’s willingness to
negotiate. “Our objective is that we want the
girls back, alive and returned to their families
and rehabilitated. We are working with
neighbouring countries if they will help,” he said.
On when he would form his cabinet, the
President, who observed jokingly that the
question was chasing him around the world even
to the point that at home he had been
nicknamed, “Baba Go Slow!”, noted that not even
the PDP during all the years it ruled the country
ever never formed a cabinet within the first four
months. “I am going to go slow and steady,” he
assured, as he called for patience to allow the
new administration “put some sense into
governance and deal with corruption.”
President Buhari promised that his
administration would at the right time tap into
the enormous talents available amongst
members of NIDO especially as consultants while
their requests for voting right in 2019, a Diaspora
Commission and opening of new consulates in
parts of the United States and Canada would be
looked into.
The President had earlier met at the same venue
with a group of young professionals in the United
States and assured them of his government’s
resolve to fight corruption, remain steadfast and
invest heavily in education which he said was
the answer to taking the youth out of poverty
and ignorance. The youth in their huge numbers
took turns to express their best wishes for the
President and the country.
GARBA SHEHU
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
July 22, 2015
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