President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he would not be demanding any<\/p>\n
apology from British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron over his diplomatic
\ngaffe, describing Nigeria, along with Afghanistan as \u2018fantastically
\ncorrupt\u2019.
\nHe said instead, he would demand action from Cameron, by returning
\nNigeria\u2019s stolen money and assets stashed in the United Kingdom. Buhari
\nmade his frustration clear as he addressed a Commonwealth conference in
\nLondon Wednesday morning in the wake of Mr Cameron\u2019s diplomatic gaffe.<\/p>\n
Clutching a glass as he made small talk with the Queen at a Buckingham
\nPalace reception, the PM was caught on camera being indiscreet about the
\ncountries he had invited to a key anti-corruption summit tomorrow. The
\nPresidency and several other Nigerians, have however, lashed back at the
\nBritish PM for that scathing remark.<\/p>\n
This came as the Presidency, yesterday, expressed \u2018shock\u2019 at the unguarded
\ncomment, saying that Cameron must have been looking at an old snapshot of
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n
However, the president Wednesday morning refused to criticise Cameron
\ndirectly when he was asked about the blunder at the conference. Instead he
\nsaid he expected the UK to help him reclaim Nigerian assets that had been
\nfraudulently stripped from the country.<\/p>\n
Buhari said: \u201cI am not going to demand an apology from anybody. What I am
\ndemanding is a return of assets \u2026 This is what I am asking for. What would
\nI do with an apology? I need something tangible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Scotland said Mr
\nCameron\u2019s remarks had been \u2018unfortunate\u2019 and countries like Nigeria needed
\nsupport rather than criticism. Mr Cameron\u2019s candid comments risked causing
\ndiplomatic ructions ahead of the major international anti-corruption
\nsummit in London on Thursday.<\/p>\n
As well as Buhari, and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is due to attend.<\/p>\n
He has also acknowledged corruption in his country and pledged to clean it
\nup.<\/p>\n
The gathering of the world\u2019s political and business leaders in London will
\naim to \u2018galvanise a global response to tackle corruption\u2019 and is being
\nstaged in the wake of the Panama Papers leak, which revealed widespread
\ntax avoidance among the world\u2019s elite earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan is at number 166 in campaign group Transparency
\nInternational\u2019s latest Corruption Perceptions Index \u2013 second from bottom.
\nOnly North Korea and Somalia, jointly ranked at number 167, are perceived
\nto be more corrupt. Nigeria is at number 136.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he would not be demanding any apology from British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron over his diplomatic gaffe, describing Nigeria, along with Afghanistan as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n