President Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday in Abuja that the prosecution of persons who have stolen national resources will begin in a matter of weeks
By Femi Adesinna
Date: August 11, 2015
__________________
President Muhammadu Buhari said Tuesday in Abuja that the
prosecution of persons who have stolen national resources will begin in a
matter of weeks.
 |
| President Muhammadu Buhari |
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.
"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.
President Buhari told General Abdulsalami 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.
Femi Adesina
Special
Adviser to the President
(Media
& Publicity)
August 11,
2015
Link
http://saharareporters.com/2015/08/11/trial-nigerian-treasury-looters-commence-soon-president-buhari
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