He said his administration will recover the mind-boggling funds stashed in foreign bank accounts.
The President, who made the vow during his meeting with members of Nigerians In Diaspora Organization, NIDO, resident in the United States and Canada at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, also expressed difficulty in identifying genuine Boko Haram leaders with whom to negotiate for the release of Chibok girls, disclosing that the sect was plotting to exchange some of their leaders being held by the government with the girls.
The President, who has been in the US on an official visit, lamented that “corruption in Nigeria has virtually developed into a culture where honest people are abused.”
According to him, the government has established contact with countries with possible traces to the illegally acquired monies, expressing his determination to re-instill the culture of transparency in Nigeria’s public life.
Said he: “We are now looking for evidences of shipping of some of our crude, their destinations and where and which accounts they were paid and in which country. When we get as much as we can get as soon as possible, we will approach those countries to freeze those accounts and go to court, prosecute those people and let the accounts be taken to Nigeria. 250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude are being stolen and people sell and put the money into individual accounts.
The amount is mind-boggling
“The amount of money is mind-boggling but we have started getting documents where some of the senior people in government and former ministers have as much as five accounts and were moving about one million barrels per day on their own. We have started getting those documents.
“I assure you that whichever documents we are able to get and subsequently trace the sale of the crude or transfer of money from ministries, departments, Central Bank, we will ask for the cooperation of those countries to return those monies to the federation account and we will use those documents to arrest those people and prosecute them. This, I promise Nigerians. A lot of damage has been done to the integrity of Nigeria with individuals and institutions already compromised.”
MEETING: President Muhammadu Buhari (right) and World Bank president, Mr Jim Yong-Kim, during a meeting at the Blair House in Washington DC, on Tuesday. Photo: State House.
MEETING: President Muhammadu Buhari (right) and World Bank president, Mr Jim Yong-Kim, during a meeting at the Blair House in Washington DC, on Tuesday. Photo: State House.
The President also decried the underhand dealings which he said was going on at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, saying that unlike in his days as a Federal Commissioner of Petroleum, “everybody is now behaving anyhow.”
On oil subsidy
Also speaking on oil subsidy, the President said he was still studying the scenario, saying that total removal of subsidy may have adverse effects on the masses.
According to him, “who is subsidizing who? But, people are gleefully saying ‘remove subsidy’ They want petrol to cost N500 per litre. If you are working and subsidy is removed, you can’t control transport, you can’t control market women, the cost of food, the cost of transport.
“If you are earning N20,000 per day and you are living in Lagos or Ibadan, the cost of transport to work and back, the cost of food will go up and you cannot control the market women because they have to pay what transporters charge them.
“Virtually, half of the Nigerian population will find it difficult to live. Where will they get the money to go to work? How can they feed their families? How can they pay rent? If there is need for removal of subsidy, I will study it. With my experience I will see what I can do. Our refineries are not working, we have a lot of work to do.”
Appointment of ministers
On the appointment of ministers, Buhari dismissed those accusing his administration of being too slow in taking crucial decisions relating to governance and appointment of political office holders.
He cited the immediate past PDP government, which he said spent more than two months to settle down during its 16-year rule, noting that he needed time to correct the anomalies in the system
He said: “Within the past two weeks I’m being asked when I’m going to form my cabinet. And in some quarters they are now calling me ‘Baba Go Slow’. I’m going to go slow and steady.”
It ‘ll take 18 months to re-jig economy
Buhari also pledged to study the Diaspora Bill with a view to signing it into law as requested by Nigerians in the Diaspora.
He advised Nigerians living abroad and searching for government jobs back home to suspend their ambition as the nation’s economy was in a bad shape. He said that it would take his administration at least 18 months or more to resuscitate it.
He, however, promised that some of the job-seekers would be engaged by the Federal Government as consultants to enable them contribute their quota to the nation’s development.
It’s difficult to ascertain genuine B’Haram leaders
Also responding to a question on whether his government was going into negotiation with Boko Haram, President Buhari said the Federal Government would only negotiate if genuine and confirmed leaders of the militant sect come forward and convince it of the current conditions of the girls, their location and the sect’s willingness to negotiate.
He said:“There are people who are claiming to be leaders of Boko Haram. They will help us to recover the Chibok girls. But, this is a very sensitive situation. Firstly, government has to establish that those that are claiming to be leaders of Boko Haram are indeed the leaders of Boko Haram.
How do we do it – it is quite difficult. In what conditions are they? Are they alive? Have they been kept as students? – because they are between the ages of 14 and 18.
“They are 220 (in number) and they have been in captivity for 18 months. There are rumours that some of them have been sold and married off.
There are rumours that the leadership of Boko Haram had married some of them and they have already had children with them.
“But, the objective of the Federal Government is clear. We want them back, alive, so that we can return them to their parents; rehabilitate them psychologically and if possible facilitate their continuing education. This is the objective of the Federal Government. And if we can get a confirmed Boko Haram leadership, we will negotiate with them.“
According to the President, the sect is plotting to exchange some of their leaders currently being held by the government in different security prisons in the country.
He said that the government was working closely with the neighbouring countries of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger towards securing the release of the girls.
He applauded the Nigeria Police for their efforts at checking violent crimes such as robbery and kidnapping and praised the Anambra government for demolishing the property of anyone found to be involved in the kidnap of innocent citizens.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu added that “President Buhari promised also that his administration would at the right time tap into the enormous talents available amongst members of NIDO especially as consultants while their requests for voting right in 2019, a Diaspora Commission and opening of new consulates in parts of the United States and Canada would be looked into.”
All those who spoke at the interactive session expressed their readiness to assist the APC-led administration of Buhari to achieve its campaign promises for the benefit of Nigerians.
They also called on Buhari to sign into law the Diaspora Bill.
Meanwhile, the President had earlier met with a group of young professionals in the United States at the same venue and assured them of his government’s resolve to fight corruption, remain steadfast and invest heavily in education which he said was the answer to taking the youth out of poverty and ignorance.
Nigeria won’t tolerate gay marriage
Meanwhile, the Presidency, yesterday, stated that Nigeria would not give any endorsement to the idea of gay marriage. It, therefore, rejected it when it came up at the meeting between President Buhari and officials of the United States of America.
The rejection of the gay marriage idea by Buhari was confirmed by the Special Adviser to President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on his Twitter handle.
“The issue of gay marriage came up here yesterday (Tuesday). President Buhari was point blank. Sodomy is against the law in Nigeria, and abhorrent to our culture,” Adesina said.
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