Lai Mohammed, minister of
information, says the federal government will continue to release more looters
list until it exhausts the names of people who allegedly stole from the
nation’s treasury.
In a statement by Segun Adeyemi,
his media aide, Mohammed said the government will not bow to “antics of hack
writers and threats of litigation”.
Mohammed said since the release
of the first two lists of the alleged looters, there have been “overt and
covert attempts to intimidate and blackmail”
the federal government into discontinuing the release of more names.
He also said there was no truth
to the claims that the anti-graft war has been politicised.
”All the fuss about politicising
the anti-corruption fight is aimed at preventing the government from releasing
more looters’ names and at the same time muddling the waters. We strongly
disagree with them,” Mohammed said.
“But 1,000 negative write-ups or
editorials will not deter us from releasing the third and subsequent lists. For
those who have chosen to give succour to looters, we wish them the best of luck
with their new pastime.
”We know where the pressure is
coming from. However, the die is cast. We will not stop until we have released
the names of all those who have looted our commonwealth. Those who have not
looted our treasury have nothing to be afraid of.”
The federal government has also
been accused of exercising judiciary powers beyond its jurisdiction by listing
as “looters” persons whose cases are still in court.
Uche Secondus, national chairman
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who was named among the alleged looters,
had filed a defamation suit against Mohammed.
Mohammed had claimed the PDP
chairman collected N200million from Sambo Dasuki, former national security
adviser (NSA), an allegation Secondus denied.
On Friday, a high court in River
state granted Secondus leave to summon Mohammed.
But Mohammed said the release of
the list was not to convict anyone but to inform Nigerians of those who
allegedly plundered the nation’s treasury.
He added that the government had
always known that corruption would fight back “fast and furious”.
”We do not have the power to try
or convict anyone. That is the exclusive preserve of the courts,” he said.
“But we have the power to let
Nigerians know those who turned the public treasury into their personal piggy
banks, on the basis of very concrete evidence, and that is what we are doing.
”We are not underestimating the
desperation of the looters, but we wish to assure Nigerians who are justifiably
outraged at the mindless plundering of the nation’s wealth also of our
determination not to back down.
“Nigerians must know those who
have wrecked the country and mortgaged the future of their children.”
Mohammed said it was the PDP that
challenged the federal government into releasing the list of looters, hence the
argument that the list only contained the names of PDP members “falls short
without proper contextualidation.”
He, therefore, challenged anyone
who feels that he or she has been wrongly accused to seek redress in court.
Liar Mohammed, don't forget to list what you looted as a governor. Okay?
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