President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday declared that he was not demanding any apology from anyone, all he wanted instead was the return of Nigerian assets stashed in the United Kingdom.
The President’s response came at the Commonwealth-sponsored ‘Tackling Corruption Together Conference’ ongoing in London where he is participating as a panelist
Cameron had during a conversation with the Queen while talking about the upcoming anti-corruption summit in London, which President Buhari is already in London for, labeled Nigeria and Afghanistan as “fantastically corrupt” in a conversation with the Queen.
The conversation took place at Buckingham Palace at an event to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday.
He was quoted as saying, “We’ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain… Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world”.
“I am not going to be demanding any apology from anybody. What I will be demanding is the return of assets.
“I have already mentioned how Britain how they led and how disgraceful one of Nigeria’s executives was. He had to dress like a woman to leave Britain and left behind his bank account and fixed assets which Britain is prepared to hand over to us.
“This is what I am asking for. What will I do with an apology? I need something tangible.” Buhari said.
Speaking in his keynote address delivered at the Commonwealth event tagged “Tackling corruption together: A conference for civil society, business and government leaders” held at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, Buhari noted that unfortunately the repatriation of stolen assets is tedious, time-consuming, costly and entails more than just signing of bilateral agreements.
In an electronic version of the speech which was made available to journalists, the President said his desire to win the anti-graft war was evident in the passion with which he has so far pursued it. He said, “Tackling the menace of corruption is not an easy task, but it is possible even if many feathers have to be ruffled.
“Our Government’s dogged commitment to tackling corruption is also evident in the freedom and support granted to national anti-corruption agencies to enable them to carry out their respective mandates without interference or hindrance from any quarter including the government.
“Today, our frontline anti-corruption agencies, namely, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct Tribunal have become revitalised and more proactive in the pursuit of perpetrators of corrupt practices, irrespective of
their social status and political persuasion. This is a radical departure from the past.
“We have implemented the Treasury Single Account whereby all Federal government revenue goes into one account. This measure would make it impossible for public officers to divert public funds to private accounts as was the practice before.
“Through the effective application of TSA and the Bank Verification Number, we have been able to remove 23,000 ghost workers from our payroll, thereby saving billions that would have been stolen.
“We are also reviewing our anti-corruption laws and have developed a national anti-corruption strategy document that will guide our policies in the next three years, and possibly beyond.”
Elizabeth Archibong
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