President Muhammadu Buhari said on Monday the primary reason he won the 2015 presidential poll was that Nigerians revolted against corruption, which he alleged was endemic under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Buhari stated that since assuming office, he had also kept faith with a promise to fight corruption by ensuring that looters paid for their acts of criminality.
The President stressed that corruption made the Nigerian system dysfunctional before he assumed office.
He spoke at the opening of the Corruption Risk Training for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies of the African Union.
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The event took place at the Conference centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the pervasive nature and devastating impact of corruption in the nation before the election made Nigeria dysfunctional.
The President told the session, “When we assumed office in May 2015, the pervasive nature and devastating impact of corruption on the Nigerian nation had become dysfunctional.
“The momentum for our electoral victory could not be separated from the revolt of the people against glaring endemic corruption.”
Buhari said the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, an organ of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, organised the training to help other agencies on the continent to learn from the Nigerian example.
The President added, “The fight against corruption is a battle for the souls of our different countries and it is one that we must win. Since independence, our continent has suffered from the severe consequences of corruption and it is imperative that we take steps to reverse the trend.
“During the past several months, we have been taking steps to institute integrity and transparency in the processes of government and holding those who have plundered our commonwealth to account for their actions.
“However, the costs of recovery and sanctions are also enormous. While commendable successes have been recorded, it has become manifest that corruption fights back. With enormous stolen resources, elements have attempted to compromise law enforcing institutions and pervert the course of justice.”
Buhari listed the implementation of the Treasury Single Account, Bank Verification Number and the strengthening of the anti-graft agencies as some of the policies his administration had used to counter corruption.
He made more suggestions on how the anti-corruption fight should be carried out, saying, “It is in this context of building robust preventive systems that we must understand this initiative which aims to train leaders of anti-corruption agencies in the African Union by deploying Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology for corruption prevention in our countries.
“Corruption Risk Assessment seeks to identify corruption-prone processes and procedures in organisations and recommend appropriate remedial steps. The methodology places a premium on prevention as an effective complement to enforcement in the war against corruption.
“In 2016, through support from the United Nations Development Programme, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria acquired the capacity to conduct training on Corruption Risk Assessment. Since then, the academy has conducted a number of these trainings.
In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party said the claim by the President that he won because the voters revolted against corruption was not true.
The party alleged that the President relied on underage voters to win the election, adding that if it had challenged the outcome of the presidential election, there were proofs that it could have been nullified.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke with one of our correspondents on the President’s claim, also alleged that the “ongoing corruption in this government is massive.”
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He said, “The number of illegal votes that the President and his party, the All Progressives Congress, got from uncommon quarters like underage voters, people without biometrics and those who didn’t pass through the use of card readers are the main reasons why the President has more votes than the candidate of the PDP, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
“The President was lucky that Jonathan chose the role of a peacemaker by not challenging the outcome of the election in court or tribunal.
“There were enough grounds upon which to challenge the result of the election as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission. But because we wanted things to just go because of the peace we so much desired in our land, we allowed the result to stand unchallenged.”
He added, “We all know what has been the result of the performance of the President since he assumed office. Apart from doing so well in nepotism and selectively fighting perceived enemies in the name of fighting corruption, is there anywhere this government has done well?
“The days of reckoning are close by when Nigerians will pay this government accordingly based on the woes it has bestowed on them. These woes include non-payment of salaries, hunger, refusal to obey court orders, nepotism, non-listening to the yearnings of the people insecurity and massive corruption.”
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