Buhari has kept his campaign promises— Lai

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says President Muhammadu Buhari has kept his campaign promises.

He disclosed this at a forum organised by the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said the president had since the inception of his administration, three and half years ago, leveraged on his integrity and his acclaimed management of human and material resources.

The minister said that the president had, at the inception of his administration, promised to tackle insecurity, fight corruption and revamp the economy.

“Many people did not believe that we could hold inauguration ceremony at the Eagle Square because, until we came, the Eagle Square had not been used for several years.

“As Buhari was being sworn-in, 20 out of the 27 Local Government in Borno state and another four Local Governments in Adamawa state were under the effective control and occupation of Boko Haram.

“Three and half years later, I can say without any fear of contradiction that not even an inch of our territory today is under the control of Boko Haram,” he said.

Mohammed also said the federal government has saved over N17 billion from foreign trips, sitting allowances and souvenirs.

He said the present administration introduced an efficiency unit in the ministry of finance to ensure that the resources of government were not squandered on “trivialised grants”.

He said the fight against corruption must not be based on the number of people that are jailed or prosecuted, but on efforts made by the government to curb corruption.

“We promised that we are going to fight corruption; people keep asking us what is your scorecard in corruption,” he said.

Read also: HURRAY! Buhari agrees to N30,000 minimum wage for workers

“Our scorecard in corruption must not be looked at just from the viewpoint of how many people have been arrested; how many have been prosecuted and how many have been jailed.

“In addition to whatever achievement we must have made in that respect, I think what is most important for the main time is the efforts this government has put in place to ensure that there is transparency in governance.

“This is to ensure that the resources of government actually go to government account and to ensure that it is actually used for the purpose of what it’s meant for.

“Another thing this government has achieved is that we introduced what is called an efficiency unit in the ministry of finance to ensure that the resources of government are not frittered on trivialised grants and excuses and today we saved about N17 billion from travels, souvenirs and sitting allowances.”

He also noted that the whistleblowing policy was another means employed by the current administration to fight corruption.

The minister said the policy has led to recoveries of N13.8 billion in tax evasion; N7.8 billion, 378 million dollars; and 27,200 pounds from public officials.

 

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