I Won’t Fail Nigerians as Anti-Corruption Ambassador—Buhari

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Nigerians have been assured by President Muhammadu Buhari that the anti-corruption campaign of his administration would be successful.

In a statement issued by the presidency on Tuesday, the Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said his boss will not be “deterred by baseless criticisms by the opposition in his determination to eradicate rampant, chronic corruption.”

According to him, the President was not made the African Union (AU) Anti-Corruption Champion in Africa for the sake of it.

Mr Shehu said the country’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while in power for 16 years, was trapped in corruption to the extent that it found it difficult to define what “corruption” and “theft” was.

While addressing newsmen on issues raised by the PDP concerning the probe of the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, the President’s spokesman said the volume and reach of the anti-corruption crusade so far reflects what the PDP left behind.

He said President Buhari’s determination to end corruption in the country was responsible for the number of highly publicized charges and cases.

“A large number of cases, new and old, may appear to be daunting but PDP, which is now heckling the President, has forgotten that the party bequeathed this to the current administration. They had the large number of cases they did not investigate and prosecute,” he said.

Mr Shehu also cautioned the PDP to allow the process of investigation and prosecution to work instead of being pre-emptive about the ongoing cases and unduly agitating the public.

He expressed hope that the judiciary would deal with the cases swiftly and satisfactorily in a manner that would deter other would-be offenders.

“The current administration is handling many of the cases that the PDP should have dealt with and the new ones as they arise,” he said.