Speaking at a meeting
with members of the National Peace Committee led by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar
in the Presidential Villa, President Buhari declared that his administration
was irrevocably committed to doing all within its powers to break the vicious
cycle of corruption, unemployment and insecurity in Nigeria.
A statement from the
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Mr. Femi Adesina quoted
Buhari as saying; “Nigeria has to break this vicious cycle before we can make
progress,” the President said, adding that his administration was diligently
getting facts and figures pertaining to the nation’s stolen funds, before
proceeding to the prosecution of identified culprits.
The statement said
that President Buhari told General Abubakar and members of his committee that
the Federal Government, under his leadership, will not only ask for the return
of stolen funds that have been stashed in foreign banks, but will also ensure
that those who stole the funds are put on trial in Nigeria.
The President also
said that as part of its actions to address the national problems it inherited,
his administration was reorganising Nigeria’s revenue generating institutions.
The President
explained that a single treasury account had been established for all Federal
revenue to ensure greater probity, transparency and accountability in the
collection, disbursement and utilisation of national funds.
“We have really
degenerated as a country. Our national institutions, including the military,
which did wonderfully on foreign missions in the past, have been compromised.
But we are doing something about it. The military is now retraining and morale
has been resuscitated.
“As Petroleum Minister
under Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo in the 1970s, I could not travel abroad until I
had taken a memo to the Federal Executive Council asking for estacode. Now,
everybody does what he wants.
“That is why
security-wise and economically, we’re in trouble,” President Buhari told his
guests, adding that those who have stolen the national wealth “will be in court
in a matter of weeks and Nigerians will know those who have short-changed
them.”
Gen. Abubakar and
members of his committee urged the Federal Government to be guided by the rule
of law in its fight against corruption.
Members of the
National Peace Committee who accompanied Gen Abubakar on the visit were Bishop
Matthew Hassan Kukah, His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of
Sokoto, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Primate of
the Anglican Church of Nigeria.
Others were Justice
Rose Ukeje (rtd), Prof Ameze Guobadia, Vanguard Newspaper Publisher, Sam Amuka,
Dame Priscilla Kuye, Senator Ben Obi, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, and Dr Arthur-Martin
Aginam.
The National Peace
Committee, formed before the 2015 general elections, was granted permission by
the President to transform to a National Peace Council.
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