President
Muhammadu Buhari Friday hit back at Transparency International over its
corruption perception index indicating that corruption was getting worse in
Nigeria.
Buhari,
in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Malam
Garba Shehu, described as misleading and unfair, the ranking of 148 given
Nigeria out if 180 countries surveyed.
Shehu
said President Buhari asked the anti-corruption watchdog to focus on facts, not
fiction.
He
said while the Presidency noted and welcomed constructive criticisms from the
Transparency International, the organization has a responsibility to reflect
the larger picture of the concrete and verifiable achievements of the Buhari
administration since it came into office in May 2015.
He
said the Presidency was still wondering the criteria or facts used by the
anti-corruption watchdog to arrive at its very "misleading and unfair
conclusions" in its assessment of the federal government's efforts in this
anti-corruption crusade.
He
said political will is the first major component of fighting corruption in any
country and Buhari had made a huge difference by demonstrating it with the
extraordinary courage to go after high profile looters, including former
military service chiefs and judges.
He
said the rating might turn out to be just a political distraction given the
strong views some of Transparency International's patrons had expressed against
the Buhari administration.
The
presidential spokesman said notwithstanding, facts are facts, and those facts
will not cease to be facts even if one does not care to pay attention to them.
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