Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, says he will on May 29 speak on
the recovered stolen funds from persons that had been indicted in the
fight against corruption.
The report is expected to be part of his speech on that day recognised as Nigeria’s Democracy Day.
In
an interview with Channels Television in the UK, where he took part in
the London Anti-Corruption Summit, President Buhari said: “So far, what
has come out, what has been recovered, in whatever currency, from which
ministry, department and individuals, I intend on the 29th to speak on
this because all that Nigerians are getting to know are from the
newspapers, radio and television.
“We want to make a comprehensive report by May 29”.
On
whether the names of the corrupt government officials or those indicted
would be published, he said it would eventually be done.
“We
want to successfully prosecute them. But you know you can’t go to the
court unless you have the documents to do your prosecutions – where some
of these people sign for these monies, send it to their personal bank
accounts.
“Their banks gave a statement that the money is there when it came how much of it available and so on”.
Never Heard The Word ‘Padding’
On
the 2016 budget and the delay that had characterised its processing, he
pointed out that if he had not uncovered the padding of the budget,
corruption would have crept into the budget, blaming it on technocrats.
“I never heard the word ‘padding’ until this year. I never heard about it. And what does it mean?
“It
means that the technocrats just allow the government to make its noise,
go and make presentation to the National Assembly so they will remove
it and put their own. So, when we uncovered this, we just have to go
back to the basics again,” he told Channels Television’s correspondent,
Chukwuma Onuekwusi.
President Buhari also made comments
on security issues, fight against Boko Haram, increasing herdsmen
attacks on communities, militancy in the Niger delta and what will
happen to those bowing up gas pipelines in the oil-rich region.
He
stressed that he had asked the Chief of Naval staff and other Service
Chiefs to work together and make sure that those blowing up
installations and subverting the investment in Nigeria would be dealt
with eventually.
“When I was in the Petroleum Trust Fund, we made
a comprehensive study of cattle routes and grazing areas through
Nigeria. I am referring the Governors’ Forum and the Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development to it. Let them see what they can do
and save the situation.
“There seem to be some credibility to the
fact that there are other than Nigerian cattle rearers involved,” he
said, linking the development to the crisis in Libya.
“Now this
is because of what happened in Libya. When Gaddafi during his 43-year
regime, he trained some people from the Sahel… Militarily, he trained
them.
“When his regime was overthrown, those people were again
dispatched to their countries. They are gone, carrying their weapons and
they found themselves even in Boko Haram,” he explained.
President
Buhari further said that the increasing herdsmen attacks on communities
in Nigeria had become a governmental project, with the government ready
to “trace them, disarm them and if necessary try them and discipline
them”.
President Buhari had during the London Anti-Corruption
Summit requested for the repatriation of funds that had been stolen and
taken to the UK by past government officials.