The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed revealed that 55
people stole N1.34tr between 2006 and 2013. The minister made this revelation
at the first town hall meeting held in Lagos state on Monday, April 25, 2016.
He said “We launched the campaign
in January and we released what some people call a bombshell, that between 2006
and 2013, just 55 people allegedly stole a total of N1.34trn, an amount that is
more than one quarter of the 2015 national budget.” Mohammed also said the
government did not abandon the country’s economy to fight corruption.
He said
“On the issue of corruption, I’ve heard many commentators say that this
administration is fighting corruption without paying attention to the economy.
Of course, this is not true. “But even if it was, it is patently justified.
Why? Unless we fight corruption to a standstill, nothing else we do will yield
positive results.”
Adding that “It was corruption
that prolonged the war against Boko Haram and sent many soldiers and civilians
to their early graves.
It was corruption that ensured that while oil was
selling for over $100 per barrel, we had nothing to show for the windfall. “It
was corruption that gave us darkness instead of light when we supposedly pumped
millions of dollars into the power sector. I can tell you today that we are
squarely fighting corruption and we are winning. The situation is serious and
no government can fight the battle alone.
That explains why we have launched a nationwide sensitization campaign
to make Nigerians to join the anti-graft war.” Mohammed said “Even if just
one-third of the stolen fund is recovered, it will provide us with 6 Lagos
Ibadan express ways and in addition, it will build 183 schools to educate 3,974
children from primary to tertiary education, also 36 modern hospitals.
The money that was originally stolen represents the total earning s of
four African nations. “The funds meant to buy arms and ammunition for our
soldiers to fight Boko Haram was shared out by few people for political
purposes. What is remarkable in all of this is that no one who has been named
to have shared in the money has denied it. All they have done is give very
ridiculous excuses for what they did. All of must be part of the war; its not
Buhari’s war, its not APC’s war, its Nigeria’s survival war."
-Pulse ng
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