Posted on: 04:00 Sat, 13 Feb 2016

President Muhammadu Buhari has given
explanations on why his government is yet to
prosecute those accused of stealing Nigeria’s
money in the oil sector.



President Muhammadu Buhari has given the
reason why the government is yet to probe
those accused of stealing the nation’s wealth,
especially in the petroleum sector.

The president said it is because of ‘lack of
evidence’ that has stalled prosecution. It is
public knowledge that some cabinet members
of former president Goodluck Jonathan’s
administration (Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Diezani
Allison Madueke and others) were accused of
squandering the country’s money.

He made the disclosure while speaking in
London, United Kingdom, in an exclusive
interview with the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) reporter, Mr. Peter
Okwoche, after attending a conference on the
ongoing Syrian crisis, Buhari said there was
no way he could go ahead to prosecute the
ongoing war against corruption successfully
without having genuine evidence to support
the prosecution of such cases.

Buhari revealed that his government’s
agencies are currently digging for evidence
and documents which they consider very vital
for successful prosecution.

President Buhari said, “The battle against
corruption, particularly in the petroleum has not
been successful because of lack of evidence.

“We are gathering those documents because to
prosecute corruption successfully, we need
evidence.

“That’s not easy, especially in petroleum sector,
and that is why we have not achieved much in
the sector.”

He stated that gathering evidence to nail
those who looted Nigeria’s money takes time
and some of those accused of tampering with
state funds have carefully concealed their
assets, making it difficult for detectives.

He, however, expressed optimism that he will win
the war against corruption for the benefit of
the whole country.

Nigerians have called for the head of all those
who stole from Nigeria especially during the
last administration which was characterized
with massive theft and stealing as revealed
by the $2.1 billion arms deal scam.

The President has assured Nigerians that he
will prosecute all those who dipped their hand
into the nation’s wealth for private use.

In particular, the APC government, since May
2015, has vowed to probe Alison-Madueke,
especially on allegation of over $20 billion
allegedly missing from the coffers of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Former Central Bank Governor, and now Emir
of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had raised the
alarm in the past years that money got
missing under Alison- Madueke, leading to an
inquiry by the National Assembly. An audit
report by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the
alleged missing $20 billion oil money, was
said to have confirmed in the first instance
that at least $18.5 billion was indeed missing.

Many Nigerians will give Buhari the benefit of
doubt as they want a proper prosecution
unlike what the anti-graft agencies have been
doing before – rushing prosecution and losing
out entirely. It is believed that if Buhari will
prosecute those involved in the looting, he
has all the time he wants to gather enough
evidence to nail them. How true this will
become can only be told in the future.