Connect with us

News

Anyone who thinks anti-corruption fight under Buhari is dead should dare us —Minister Lai

Published

on

The minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has stated that the fight against corruption in Nigeria is alive and ongoing, and dared anyone who thinks otherwise to test the system.

He further stated that the ongoing probes of some government agencies was proof that the present administration does not shield anyone found culpable in the fight against graft in the country.

Mohammed stated this during a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

Nigerians have been inundated with allegations of corruptions in government agencies in recent times, which prompted the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to call for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari.

These agencies include the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But Mohammed said, “Many, especially naysayers, have misinterpreted these developments as a sign that the administration’s fight against corruption is waning. In fact, the main opposition PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) has latched on to the developments to call for the resignation of Mr. President, a call that is nothing but infantile!” Mohammed said.

He went further to say, “Let me state here and now that the fight against corruption, a cardinal programme of this administration, is alive and well.

President Muhammadu Buhari, the African Union’s Anti-Corruption Champion, who also has an impeccable reputation globally, remains the driver of the fight and no one, not the least the PDP under whose watch Nigeria was looted dry, can taint his image or reverse the gains of the fight. Anyone who disagrees that the anti-corruption fight is alive and well is free to dare us.”

On the current issues of corruption in many agencies of the government he said, “What the revelations of the past few weeks, especially the

investigation of the nation’s anti-corruption Czar (Ibrahim Magu), have shown is that this administration is not ready to sweep any allegation of corruption under the carpet; that there is no sacred cow in this fight, and that – unlike the PDP, we will not cover up for anyone, including the members of our party and government, who faces corruption allegations.”

Mohammed added, “Our fight against corruption is blind to party affiliation, position in government and any other consideration. If the nation’s anti-corruption Czar can be investigated, then the fight against corruption cannot be deemed to be fake, neither can it be said to be waning.

READ ALSO: Buhari in meeting with APC governors

“I am not prepared to go into the details of the various corruption allegations, whether at the NDDC, NSITF, EFCC or any other

agency because they are all still under investigation.

“However, I wish to state that the allegations of corruption in NDDC, for example, are not new. What is new is the speed and seriousness with which this administration has tackled, and is still tackling, the allegations.

“Had such attention been paid to the running of the NDDC by previous administrations, the commission would probably have avoided its

present predicament. Is it not a sad irony, then, that those under whose watch the alleged freewheeling spending by the commission

started are now the ones accusing those who are cleaning up after them of corruption?”

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now