President Muhammadu Buhari says
corruption poses a big threat to the general election and the country’s
democracy.
The president said this in a
piece titled “Corruption Threatens Nigeria – And Its Election”.
Buhari said while his
administration is devising ways to tackle corruption, the social vice
“innovates to resist the law”.
He added that he shares the same
desire with Nigerians who wish to see the speedy execution of projects and end
results of his anti-corruption fight but that due process must be followed to
ensure “allegation never takes the place of evidence”.
He urged Nigerians to re-elect
him while promising to “continue forward on this testing path against
corruption”.
“A Yoruba proverb states that
only the patient one can milk a lion. Likewise, victory over corruption is
difficult, but not impossible. We must not flounder in our resolve,” he said.
“I know many Nigerians would like
to see faster action. So do I. But so too must we follow due process and
exercise restraint, ensuring allegation never takes the place of evidence. For
that is not the Nigeria we should wish to build.
“This is the challenge of our
generation: the variable on which our success as a nation shall be determined.
But the vested interests at play can make this fight difficult. By way of their
looting, the corrupt have powerful resources at their disposal. And they will
use them. For when you fight corruption, you can be sure it will fight back.
“There is no doubt that this
Administration has changed the way we tackle corruption. The choice before
voters is this: Do we continue forward on this testing path against corruption?
Or do revert to the past, resigned to the falsehood that it is just
the-way-things-are-done? Or that it is just too difficult – too pervasive – to
fix? I know which one I would choose. It is why I am asking Nigerians for
another four years to serve them.”
Read the full statement below
On February 16th, Nigeria will
hold a general election. Four years ago, the country experienced its first
democratic transfer of power to the opposition since 1999. The vote in a few
days will be no less significant.
As president, I have tried to
judiciously exercise the trust vested in me to combat the problems of
corruption, insecurity and an inequitable economy. All are important. But
amongst them, one stands above the others as both a cause and aggravator of the
rest. It is, of course, corruption.
A policy programme that does not
have fighting corruption at its core is destined to fail. The battle against
graft must be the base on which we secure the country, build our economy,
provide decent infrastructure and educate the next generation.
This is the challenge of our
generation: the variable on which our success as a nation shall be determined.
But the vested interests at play can make this fight difficult. By way of their
looting, the corrupt have powerful resources at their disposal. And they will
use them. For when you fight corruption, you can be sure it will fight back.
It even threatens to undermine
February’s poll and – by extension – our democracy. The Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission has raised concerns over laundered money being funnelled into
vote buying. This is the problem of corruption writ large. It illustrates how
it lurks in all and every crevice of public life, manipulating due process in
pursuit of self-preservation and perpetuation; protecting personal political
and economic interests at the expense of the common good.
Indeed, those who have criticised
my administration’s anti-corruption drive are those who oppose its mission. And
though their lawyers may craft expensive alibis, they cannot escape that which
binds them together: a raft of documents and barely legal (some clearly
illegal) mechanisms – whether that be the Panama Papers, US Congress reports,
shell companies or offshore bank accounts.
Corruption corrodes the trust on
which the idea of community is founded, because one rule for the few and
another for everyone else is unacceptable to anyone working honestly.
But as we have intensified our
war on corruption, so we have found that corruption innovates to resist the law.
This is not the sole domain of those Nigerians, but the international
corruption industry: the unsavoury fellow-traveler of globalisation.
Once the enablers are let in – as
they have been in the past – the greed of those they collude with grows. We have
closed the door on them, but unfortunately there still remain individuals who
are willing to open windows.
Concrete progress has been made,
but there is still much to do. We have repatriated hundreds of millions of
dollars stowed away in foreign banks. These funds have been transparently
deployed on infrastructural projects and used to directly empower the poorest
in society. More is still to come from our international partners in France,
the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Yet the hundreds of
billions sifted out of the country for the best part of this century promise
more.
We have secured high profile
convictions, but greater cases remain. Lawyers table endless objections to
obstruct court proceedings, whilst their clients hope it lasts until a
‘friendly’ president is voted into office. We must continue to tighten the legal
framework and ensure the authorities have the investigative powers at their
disposal to secure sentences. Only then will we begin to neutralise the
advantages the corrupt have.
More ghost workers must be
removed from government payroll (almost $550 million has been saved from
identifying phantom employees). More can be recovered through our
whistle-blower policy ($370 million has been returned since its launch in
2016). More is still to come. But, together, we shall prevail over corruption.
A Yoruba proverb states that only
the patient one can milk a lion. Likewise, victory over corruption is
difficult, but not impossible. We must not flounder in our resolve. I know many
Nigerians would like to see faster action. So do I. But so too must we follow
due process and exercise restraint, ensuring allegation never takes the place
of evidence. For that is not the Nigeria we should wish to build.
There is no doubt that this
Administration has changed the way we tackle corruption. The choice before
voters is this: Do we continue forward on this testing path against corruption?
Or do revert to the past, resigned to the falsehood that it is just
the-way-things-are-done? Or that it is just too difficult – too pervasive – to
fix? I know which one I would choose. It is why I am asking Nigerians for
another four years to serve them.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com