PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has reiterated that looters of public funds were making refunds which would be made public by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) when a reasonable target has been achieved.
Delivering an address entitled ‘Incorruptibility: A Spiritual Premise for Material Well-being,” at the Osigwe Anyam-Osigwe Foundation lecture in Abuja, on Friday, he spoke about his determination to bring treasury looters to justice and urged Nigerians to embrace the war against corruption in order for it to succeed.
He blamed the state of infrastructure in the country on arrant corruption of officials who diverted public resources to their personal use.
In a direct response for calls on him to disclose former public officers who he had earlier said had returned stolen money, he said: “In striving to reorder our country and put it on the path of recovery, we have thus identified the need to tackle corruption head-on.
“In this regard, we have taken steps towards recovering a reasonable amount of the money that was looted or misappropriated from public coffers.
“Investigations are ongoing on public officers who served, or are still serving, and those whose conduct are questionable will be compelled to accept the path of honour and surrender their loots.
“As I stated recently, a good number of people who abused their positions are voluntarily returning the illicit funds. I have heard it said that we should disclose the names of the people and the amount returned.
“Yes, in due course, the Central Bank of Nigeria will make information available to the public on the surrendered funds, but I must remark that it is yet early days, and any disclosure now may jeopardise the possibility of bigger recoveries.
“But we owe Nigerians adequate information and it shall come in due course. It is part of the collective efforts to change our land from the bastion of corruption it currently is to a place of probity and transparency.
“Quite frankly, the anti-corruption war is not strictly about me as a person, it is about building a country where our children and the forthcoming generations can live in peace and prosperity.
“When you see dilapidated infrastructure round the country, it is often the consequence of corruption.
Poor health care, collapsed education, lack of public utilities, decayed social services are all products of corruption, as those entrusted with public resources put them in their private pockets.” (Tribune)
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