11-26-2017, 04:23 PM
The anti-corruption war will remain unrelenting despite the massive criticisms against it, President Muhammadu Buhari has stated.
He vowed that all looters of public funds will be brought to book regardless of whose ox is gored.
Buhari, who was apparently reacting to insinuations the fight has not yielded any positive impact, said the responsibility of the Executive is to investigate and prosecute, leaving the judiciary to convict offenders.
The President spoke in an interview published in the 2017/2018 Nigeria Outlook, a study on the economy, governance and investment opportunities in the country compiled by a team of professionals led by Reginald Ibe and Dahiru Ali.
He said: “We are succeeding in the anti corruption war. Cases are being investigated and those indicted are prosecuted. The number of convictions is not within the ambit of the Executive.
“Ours is to investigate and charge to court while it is the duty of the judiciary to convict. We can’t be prosecutor and jury at the same time.
“We respect the principle of separation of power as enshrined in our constitution. We don’t teleguide the judiciary and the onus is on that institution to do its work expeditiously.
“The anti corruption war is not limited in scope. Anybody that runs foul of the law will answer for it.”
He went on: “We will strengthen the war in due course. You don’t need a national debate to fight corruption.
“You just need to crack down on corrupt people without fear or favour. We will strengthen the war and fight it at all levels.”
President Buhari said the major task of his government is to make an enduring impact on Nigerians, lamenting that for many decades “we paid lip service to diversifying the economy.
“But we merely succeeded in turning ourselves into a mono economy. And when oil price crashed, we simply crashed with it as a nation.
“It should never happen again and that is why we are focused on agriculture, mines and steel development as well as manufacturing.
“We will lay a solid foundation and build on it. That will ensure that Nigeria will never be at the mercy of just one commodity again.
“Oil will still get attention but it gets it along with any other commodities. That is our goal, and Nigeria and the international community can count on our single mindedness as an administration. We are determined to make a difference.”
On overbloated public service and whether the government has plans to down size, Buhari said: “There is time for everything. This time of parlous economic reality is not the right time to send more people into the Labour market. This is a government with a human face.
“We met a monthly wage bill of the public service at about N165 billion. It is very easy to say downsize.
“But we preferred to audit the system and scores of thousands of ghost workers have been discovered in the process.
“We saved more than N20 billion which has reduced the monthly wage bill significantly. We will continue to audit the process, get the correct number of workers we have, rather than retrench and cause more misery.
“I have said it before and I say it again. If I have my way, no single Nigerian will lose his or her job at this time.”
source:http://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-vows-sustain-anti-graft-war-despite-criticisms/
He vowed that all looters of public funds will be brought to book regardless of whose ox is gored.
Buhari, who was apparently reacting to insinuations the fight has not yielded any positive impact, said the responsibility of the Executive is to investigate and prosecute, leaving the judiciary to convict offenders.
The President spoke in an interview published in the 2017/2018 Nigeria Outlook, a study on the economy, governance and investment opportunities in the country compiled by a team of professionals led by Reginald Ibe and Dahiru Ali.
He said: “We are succeeding in the anti corruption war. Cases are being investigated and those indicted are prosecuted. The number of convictions is not within the ambit of the Executive.
“Ours is to investigate and charge to court while it is the duty of the judiciary to convict. We can’t be prosecutor and jury at the same time.
“We respect the principle of separation of power as enshrined in our constitution. We don’t teleguide the judiciary and the onus is on that institution to do its work expeditiously.
“The anti corruption war is not limited in scope. Anybody that runs foul of the law will answer for it.”
He went on: “We will strengthen the war in due course. You don’t need a national debate to fight corruption.
“You just need to crack down on corrupt people without fear or favour. We will strengthen the war and fight it at all levels.”
President Buhari said the major task of his government is to make an enduring impact on Nigerians, lamenting that for many decades “we paid lip service to diversifying the economy.
“But we merely succeeded in turning ourselves into a mono economy. And when oil price crashed, we simply crashed with it as a nation.
“It should never happen again and that is why we are focused on agriculture, mines and steel development as well as manufacturing.
“We will lay a solid foundation and build on it. That will ensure that Nigeria will never be at the mercy of just one commodity again.
“Oil will still get attention but it gets it along with any other commodities. That is our goal, and Nigeria and the international community can count on our single mindedness as an administration. We are determined to make a difference.”
On overbloated public service and whether the government has plans to down size, Buhari said: “There is time for everything. This time of parlous economic reality is not the right time to send more people into the Labour market. This is a government with a human face.
“We met a monthly wage bill of the public service at about N165 billion. It is very easy to say downsize.
“But we preferred to audit the system and scores of thousands of ghost workers have been discovered in the process.
“We saved more than N20 billion which has reduced the monthly wage bill significantly. We will continue to audit the process, get the correct number of workers we have, rather than retrench and cause more misery.
“I have said it before and I say it again. If I have my way, no single Nigerian will lose his or her job at this time.”
source:http://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-vows-sustain-anti-graft-war-despite-criticisms/