Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture on Tuesday said the Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration has recorded over 1,400 convictions, including high profile ones, and recovered funds in excess of N800 billion.
The minister who said this at a press conference in Abuja, argued that the Buhari’s anti- corruption fight still on course allegations of monumental corruption in a number of government agencies, including the NDDC, NSITF and the anti-corruption agency, EFCC.
According to him, the ongoing probe at the EFCC is proof that the Anti corruption war is still strong. He therefore described the call for the resignation of the President by the by the Nigerian opposition PDP as infantile.
“The investigation of the nation’s anti-corruption Czar, 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.
“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.Many, especially naysayers, have misinterpreted these developments as a sign that the Administration’s fight against corruption is waning.
“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.
“As I said earlier, this Administration’s fight against corruption is as strong as ever, and we have the records to back up this claim”, Mohammed said.
The minister pointed out that the fight against corruption is not about loot recovery or convictions alone. He informed that government is also putting in place enduring institutional reforms that will deter acts of corruption.
“Here we are talking about the Treasury Single Account (TSA), theWhistleblower Policy, the expansion of the coverage of the Integrated Payroll Personnel and Information System as well as the Government Integrated Management Information System and the Open Government Partnership and Transparency Portal on Financial Transactions, among others”, the minister said.
