President Muhammadu\u00a0 Buhari Tuesday in the United States vowed that his
\nadministration would trace the accounts of individuals who stashed away
\nill-gotten oil money, freeze and recover the loot and prosecute the
\nculprits.<\/p>\n
Reacting to questions from members of Nigerians In Diaspora Organisation
\n(NIDO) in the United States and Canada at the Nigerian Embassy in
\nWashington DC on the third day of his visit, the President lamented that
\n\u201cCorruption in Nigeria has virtually developed into a culture where honest
\npeople are abused.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201c250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude are being
\nstolen and people sell and put the money into individual accounts,\u201d adding
\nthat the United States and other developed countries \u201care helping us to
\ntrace such accounts now. We will ask that such accounts be frozen and
\nprosecute the persons. The amount involved is mind-boggling. Some former
\nministers were selling about one million barrels per day. I assure you
\nthat we will trace and repatriate such money and use the documents to
\nprosecute them. A lot of damage has been done to the integrity of Nigeria
\nwith individuals and institutions already compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Citing the example of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),
\nPresident Buhari said unlike what obtained during his tenure as Federal
\nCommissioner for Petroleum under military regime when the NNPC had only
\ntwo traceable accounts before paying oil proceeds into the Central Bank of
\nNigeria (CBN), \u201cnow everybody is doing anyhow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The President, who expressed skepticism on the existence of oil subsidy,
\nsaid if subsidy was removed, transport, housing and food prices would go
\nout of control and the average worker would suffer untold hardship.<\/p>\n
While agreeing that the \u201ceconomy is in an extremely bad shape,\u201d following
\n16 years of bad government by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which ran
\ndown the oil refineries and had the \u201ctreasury in their pockets,\u201d he said
\nthe All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration would fulfill its
\nthree-pronged campaign manifesto of providing security, turning around the
\neconomy with a major focus on youth employment and fighting corruption.<\/p>\n
According to him, agriculture and mining would receive priority attention
\nas faster job-creation avenues for the teeming unemployed youth, adding
\nthat some foreign investors had agreed to take advantage of the immense
\nbusiness opportunities in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
President Buhari when asked if the Federal Government (FG) would agree to
\nnegotiate with the Boko Haram insurgent and terrorist organization to pave
\nway for the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, replied that the
\nFG would only negotiate if genuine and confirmed leaders of the militant
\nsect came forward and convinced the FG of the current conditions of the
\ngirls, their location and the sect\u2019s willingness to negotiate. \u201cOur
\nobjective is that we want the girls back, alive and returned to their
\nfamilies and rehabilitated. We are working with neighbouring countries if
\nthey will help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
On when he would form his cabinet, the President, who observed jokingly
\nthat the question was chasing him around the world even to the point that
\nat home he had been nicknamed, \u201cBaba Go Slow!\u201d, noted that not even the
\nPDP during all the years it ruled the country ever never formed a cabinet
\nwithin the first four months. \u201cI am going to go slow and steady,\u201d he
\nassured, as he called for patience to allow the new administration \u201cput
\nsome sense into governance and deal with corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Buhari promised that his administration would at the right time
\ntap into the enormous talents available amongst members of NIDO especially
\nas consultants while their requests for voting right in 2019, a Diaspora
\nCommission and opening of new consulates in parts of the United States and
\nCanada would be looked into.<\/p>\n
The President had earlier met at the same venue with a group of young
\nprofessionals in the United States and assured them of his government\u2019s
\nresolve to fight corruption, remain steadfast and invest heavily in
\neducation which he said was the answer to taking the youth out of poverty
\nand ignorance.<\/p>\n
The youth in their huge numbers took turns to express their best wishes
\nfor the President and the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu\u00a0 Buhari Tuesday in the United States vowed that his administration would trace the accounts of individuals who stashed away ill-gotten oil money, freeze and recover the loot and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n