Posted on: 09:26 Thu, 04 Feb 2016



The Presidency has risen in defence of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying he
has achieved a lot in the area of fighting corruption in the seven months of his
administration.

The Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba
Shehu, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

Shehu was reacting to a recent report by the Centre for Democracy and
Development which claimed that Buhari had only achieved one out of his 222
tracked electoral promises, representing 0.5 per cent of the promises.

The CDD had based its report on critical sectors such as security, the economy,
fighting corruption, oil and gas, agriculture, and social and environmental
sectors.

But the presidential spokesman said it was mischievous to attribute to the
President promises he did not make during the campaigns and hold him
accountable.

While advising leaders of the CDD to rise above what he called petty
partisanship and stop misleading Nigerians, Shehu said any unbiased person
would recognise the achievement so far made by Buhari in curbing corruption.

According to him, no sincere Nigerian will fail to recognise the courage of the
President to tackle corruption in a country where impunity was once celebrated.

The presidential spokesman added that within seven months, Buhari had
successfully blocked the leakages in the system.

He said as a result of these efforts, the Nigeria Customs Service had quadrupled
its revenue base within seven months, a feat the service could not achieve in
years.

“Doesn’t the President deserve credit for this and other efforts to confront the
monster of corruption?” Shehu asked.

On the economy, he said it was wrong to blame the President for the falling oil
prices in the world market, a challenge which he said had made Buhari lay
emphasis on economic diversification.

He recalled that President Barack Obama of the United States had inherited an
economy in crisis in 2009 and was not judged in his first seven months in office.

Shehu explained that in the case of Buhari, it was a double tragedy because he
inherited an economy in crisis on account of declining oil revenues and an
economy also ravaged by large-scale corruption.

He, however, said progress was being made in recovering the nation’s stolen
funds.

He said an escrow account had been opened for that purpose.

Shehu added, “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.”

He said Buhari’s war against corruption and terrorism had become a template
for Africa and the rest of the world.

The presidential spokesman said it was, however, ironic that at home, some
individuals were not prepared to give these successes the recognition they
deserved.

Shehu said, “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.”