President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that the anti-corruption
crusade in the country will be deepened and institutionalized to last
beyond the life of the current administration.
Receiving the U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, at in State House,
Abuja, Tuesday, the president declared: “We will insist on the standards
we’re establishing. We are laying down administrative and financial
instructions in the public service that must be obeyed. Any breach will
no longer be acceptable”.
“We will retrain our staff, so that they understand the new
orientation. And those who run foul of these rules will be prosecuted,
no matter who is involved. But we will be fair, just and act according
to the rule of law. Anyone perceived corrupt is innocent till we can
prove it. We will work very hard to establish documentation for
successful prosecution, and those in positions of trust will sit up,”
Mr. Buhari said.
He appreciated the intervention of the U.S before the 2015 polls,
demanding free and fair elections in Nigeria, saying, “America did not
do it because of what it stands to benefit from us. You did it for the
Nigerian people. It tells so much what the U.S stands for in the world”.
On the Boko Haram insurgency, President Buhari thanked the U.S for both hard and soft military help.
“The training and intelligence that we could not muster ourselves, we
received. The training has made Boko Haram less of a threat to Nigeria
and the Lake Chad Basin region, while the military hardware has given
our troops added confidence,” Mr. Buhari said.
President Buhari said though militancy in the Niger Delta has
impacted negatively on the economy and affected the positive intentions
of international and local investors, government was showing restraint
not to use real force, “except when constrained to do so”.
On the economy, the president assured that the focus of his
administration was on the diversification of the economy having learnt
our lessons from years of over dependence on oil.
In his remarks, Mr. Kerry commended the courage of President Buhari
in fighting corruption, saying: “We applaud what you are doing.
The Secretary of State also pledged to assist in tackling the humanitarian challenges in the North-east, adding that his country would get the UK, France, and others “to augment the support”.
“Nigeria is priority for us. We won’t miss the opportunity to work together, because you are making significant progress,” Mr. Kerry said.
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