The President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari has assured us that he will publish
the names of treasury looters who are currently returning stolen money.
The President revealed this while speaking at the 15th
session of the Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation lecture at the International
Conference Centre, in Abuja.
He said, ”We have taken steps towards recovering a reasonable amount
of the money that was looted or misappropriated from public coffers.
Investigations are ongoing on public officers who served, or are still
serving, and those whose conduct are questionable will be compelled to
accept the path of honour and surrender their loot”.
”As I stated
recently, a good number of people who abused their positions are
voluntarily returning the illicit funds. I have heard it said that we
should disclose the names of the people, and the amount returned.
Yes, in due course, the Central Bank of Nigeria will make information
available to the public on the surrendered funds, but I must remark
that it is yet early days, and any disclosure now may jeopardize the
possibility of bigger recoveries. But we owe Nigerians adequate
information, and it shall come in due course. It is part of the
collective effort to change our land from the bastion of corruption it
currently is, to a place of probity and transparency.
”Quite
frankly, the anti-corruption war is not strictly about me as a person,
it is about building a country where our children, and the forthcoming
generations, can live in peace and prosperity. When you see dilapidated
infrastructure round the country, it is often the consequence of
corruption.
”Poor healthcare, collapsed education, lack of public
utilities, decayed social services, are all products of corruption, as
those entrusted with public resources put them in their private pockets.
That must stop, if we want a new Nigeria. And that was why I said at
another forum that people need not fear me, but they must fear the
consequences of their actions. Corrupt acts will always be punished, and
there will be no friend, no foe. We will strive to do what is fair and
just at all times, but people who refuse to embrace probity should have
every cause to fear.”
No comments:
Post a Comment