The Presidency says that President Muhammadu Buhari, has made tremendous achievement in the war against corruption in the seven months that he’s been in power.
Reacting to a recent report by the Centre for Democracy and Development which inferred that Buhari had only achieved one out of his 222 electoral promises, the Presidency said it was mischievous to judge the president based on promises he did not make during the election campaign.
Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, released a statement on Wednesday, advising leaders of the CDD to rise above petty partisanship and stop misleading Nigerians.
The statement said that anyone who’s unbiased would see the evident leaps taken by the president administration in the anti-corruption war.
Shehu said that Buhari had managed to block the leakages in the system, within seven months.
He noted that the Nigeria Customs Service had doubled its revenue base four times over, within seven months.
Shehu said the Nigerian President’s war against corruption and terrorism had become a template for Africa and the rest of the world.
“Doesn’t the President deserve credit for this and other efforts to confront the monster of corruption?” Shehu asked.
Furthermore, the President’s spokesperson said it was unfair to blame Buhari for the falling oil prices in the world market.
He added that the US President, Barack Obama inherited a crisis-ridden economy in 2009 and was not judged in his first seven months in office.
He said Buhari’s case was doubly worse, as he inherited an economy in crisis- as a result of the falling oil prices and large-scale corruption.
“He (Buhari) is making good strides towards improving governance by tackling corruption. Till date, a good number of persons believed to have collectively stolen billions from taxpayers have been arrested and are facing the courts.”
“We are working with our allies across the world from Britain and America to France and Germany to China and the UAE to source, locate and repatriate misappropriated funds.”
“So far, an escrow account has been opened for money that is being returned. This is only the start. The return of stolen funds is important, but it is just as critical to ensure that those who seek to steal realise that no longer will there be such impunity in Nigeria.”
“The latest CDD episode is a shocking reminder to their failed attempt to hold the President to ‘100 promises in 100 days’ which disastrously crashed on the head of the proponent.”
“The elevation of the act to a new high of 220 promises is a knee-jerk reaction that seeks to play to the gallery and score points against the President.”
