President Muhammadu
Buhari has admitted that Nigeria is indeed broke. He said that the country is
at the moment struggling to pay workers salaries even as he says he wants to
be remembered as a Nigerian president who fought corruption to a standstill,
assuring Nigerians, who are not involved in corruptly enriching themselves with
public funds, not to be afraid.
President Buhari said in
the coming days he would have to prune the number of ministries so as to be
able to pay salaries. He’s saying this barely 24 hours after the Senate
confirmed 37 ministerial nominees he sent to the upper chamber of the National
Assembly for confirmation.
Speaking at a press
conference after the India-Africa Summit, which took place in New Delhi, India,
President Buhari said he would not lose sleep over criticism that he was being
selective in the fight against corruption.
One of the main talking
points at the one-day summit in New Delhi, was the provision India had made for
African countries. The nation said it had set aside over $10 billion grant for
African countries.
Wooing investors,
President Buhari assured Indians and the international community of his
administration’s commitment to sustaining efforts aimed at making Nigeria an
envy of all. He urged them to avail themselves of the conducive environment
that would be created for investments to thrive.
Responding
to critics of his administration who claim he was too slow in addressing
economic and infrastructural challenges facing the country that’s yearning for
urgent development, Buhari said “they call me baba go slow, but I will go slow and steady”.
He called on the elite to
encourage him to get whoever had compromised his position and the trust given
to him. President Buhari told the gathering that he remained resolute in the
fight against corruption and would want to be remembered for that when it is
all said and done.
His administration has
three main focus – security, economy and the fight against corruption. But he
has roundly been criticised by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
as being selective in the fight.
On whether there will be
an extension of a three-month deadline given by his administration to flush
out Boko Haram from Nigeria’s north-east, the President said that the target
was to get rid of terrorism and not about meeting deadline.
-Sun News
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