Buhari directs CBN to disclose names of looters, refunders

ITRealms:

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to in due course disclose the names of those refunding alleged looted funds into the purse of the federal government, reports ITRealms.

Speaking Friday in a keynote address at the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation lecture series 2015 held at International Conference Centre, Abuja on “Incorruptibility; A spiritual premise for material wellbeing,”
President Buhari gave this direction, but called for patience on the side of Nigerians.

"We must kill corruption before corruption kills us. Investigations are ongoing on public officers who served, or are still serving, and those whose conduct were questionable will be compelled to accept the path of honour and surrender their loots," he said.

President Buhari also noted, a good number of people who abused their positions are voluntarily returning the illicit funds

“I have heard it said that we should disclose the names of the people, and the amount returned. Yes, in due course, the Central Bank of Nigeria will make information available to the public on the surrendered funds, but I must remark that it is yet early days, and any disclosure now may jeopardize the possibility of bigger recoveries. But we owe Nigerians adequate information, and it shall come in due course. It is part of the collective effort to change our land from the bastion of corruption it currently is, to a place of probity and transparency," he said.

Buhari equally said that the anti-corruption war is not strictly about him as a person, “it is about building a country where our children, and the forthcoming generations, can live in peace and prosperity. When you see dilapidated infrastructure round the country, it is often the consequence of corruption. Poor healthcare, collapsed education, lack of public utilities, decayed social services, are all products of corruption, as those entrusted with public resources put them in their private pockets. That must stop, if we want a new Nigeria.”

He insisted that corrupt acts will always be punished, and there will be no friend, no foe. Just as Buhari promised his leadership would strive to do what is fair and just at all times, but people who refuse to embrace probity should have every cause to fear.

He invited Nigerians to look at the corruption problem in the country, and tell him how they feel as a Nigerians.

“Our commonwealth is entrusted to leaders at different levels of governance, and instead of using the God given resources to better the lot of the citizens, they divert them to private use. They then amass wealth in billions and trillions of naira, and other major currencies of the world, ill-gotten wealth which they cannot finish spending in several lifetimes over. This is abuse of trust, pure and simple. When you hold public office, you do it in trust for the people. When you, therefore, use it to serve self, you have betrayed the people who entrusted that office to you,” he said.

 

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