There are indications that The Federal Government is set to begin
the trial of persons alleged to have stolen from the national coffers, the Pres said on Tuesday. That the trial would begin in a matter of weeks.
But the questions Nigerians are asking is who is to be tried and who is not to be tried, because; people that funded his election and ensured that he won the election of 2015 were indeed looters. The President spoke while addressing
members of the National Peace Committee, led by a former military Head
of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, in the Presidential Villa. Those who have stolen the national
wealth will be in court in a matter of weeks and Nigerians will know
those who have short-changed them, the President told his guests.
But the committee, which the president has
transformed into the National Peace Council, also told Buhari to
remember that Nigeria was no longer under military rule and that he
should follow due process in the trial of suspected looters and why he has not appointed his executives till this date. However, his body language shows that he want to turn the Villa to his family affair.
A statement by Buhari’s Special Adviser
on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted the President as
telling Abubakar and members of his committee that his administration
was irrevocably committed to doing all within its powers to break the
vicious cycle of corruption, unemployment and insecurity in Nigeria.
Nigeria has to break this vicious cycle before we can make progress,” the President said.
He added that his administration had
been gathering facts and figures pertaining to the nation’s stolen funds
and has identified the culprits which would be prosecuted. Buhari also told members of the
committee that the Federal Government, under his leadership, would not
only ask for the return of stolen funds but also ensure that those who
stole the funds were put on trial. He said a single treasury account had
been established for all federal revenues to ensure greater probity,
transparency and accountability in the collection, disbursement and
utilisation of national funds.
The President said, We have really degenerated
as a country. Our national institutions, including the military, which
did wonderfully on foreign missions in the past, have been compromised.
But we are doing something about it. The military is now retraining and
the morale has been resuscitated. As petroleum minister under Gen.
Olusegun Obasanjo in the 1970s, I could not travel abroad until I had
taken a memo to the Federal Executive Council, asking for estacode. Now,
everyone does what he wants.
That is why security-wise and economically, we are in trouble. Abubakar and members of his committee
urged the Federal Government to be guided by the rule of law in its
fight against corruption. A member of the committee, who is also
the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Kukah, spoke with State
House correspondents at the end of the closed-door meeting with the Buhari. The pastor said, the way corruption war is being fought is not heating up the polity, and advised him to ensure that the war against corruption is fought with every sense of sincerity and must be from 1986 - 2015 if indeed he is sincere.
In our conversation with Former President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and members of his parties, said that no
Nigerian is in favour of corruption or is against the President’s
commitment to ensuring that we turn a new leaf. I think what we are concerned about is
the process. It is no longer a military regime and under our existing
laws, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, Buhari should start from 1986 - 2015 and wish him the best! Please follow this for daily update.