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In commemoration of Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary, President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationally televised broadcast on Sunday reinstated his strong conviction in winning the battle against corruption, a challenge he described as Nigeria’s number one enemy.
Buhari who said oil price was pegged on an average of $100 per barrel and about 2.1 million barrels a day in the past years, however, lamented that the nation’s wealth was squandered and the country’s social and physical infrastructure neglected.
He added that Nigerians were left with no savings and huge infrastructure deficit.
“The APC government’s rallying cry to restore security, rebalance the economy and fight corruption was not all rhetoric.
“The country must first be secured. The economy must be rebalanced so that we do not depend on oil alone.
“We must fight corruption, which is Nigeria’s number one enemy. Our administration is tackling these tasks in earnest,” he said.
Reaffirming his administration’s determination to eradicate corruption from the nation he said the government had empowered teams of prosecutors, assembled detailed databases, and accelerated the recovery of stolen funds.
Buhari listed new institutional reforms to include enforcement of Treasury Single Account, the Whistle-blower Policy, and the Integrated Payroll Personnel and Information System.
Saying there were signs of increasing cooperation from the judiciary in the fight against corruption, he called on the National Assembly to ensure swift passage of anti-corruption laws.
He added, “We have signed multilateral agreements on criminal matters with friendly countries. There are signs of increasing cooperation from the judiciary.
“Recently, the Chief Justice of the Federation directed heads of all our courts of first instance and Appeal to accelerate hearings of corruption cases and dismiss any judicial officers found to have been compromised.
“Justice Salami has just been appointed to chair the Judiciary’s anti-graft committee. Government expects a lot from this committee.
“I commend the National Assembly for refocusing on its oversight committees.
“They should, in addition, ensure swift passage of enabling corruption laws. But fighting corruption is a bottom to top operation.”
Meanwhile, President highlighted some of the achievements of his administration in the last two years in the areas of security, economy, and the fight against corruption.
He said as the nation entered the second half of his four-year term of office, he intended to accelerate progress and intensify his resolve to fix the country’s challenges and problems.
On security, he said Nigerians must be grateful to the nation’s Armed Forces for rolling back the frontiers of Boko Haram’s terrorism, defeating them and reducing them to “cowardly attacks on soft and vulnerable targets.”
He thanked the country’s neighbours and the international community for the collective efforts to defeat terrorism.
“Government is working round the clock to ensure the release of the remaining Chibok girls, as well as other persons in Boko Haram captivity. Government will continue to support the Armed Forces and other security agencies to fight not only terrorism, but kidnapping, armed robbery, herdsmen/farmers violence and to ensure peace, stability and security in our country,” he added.
On the economy, the President said his government has remained proactive in its diversification policy.
e said the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, launched in November 2015, has been an outstanding success with N43.92bn released through the CBN and 13 participating institutions.
He also said 200,000 smallholder farmers from 29 states of the federation were benefitting; with 233,000 hectares of farmland being used to cultivate eight commodities, namely, rice, wheat, maize, cotton, soya bean, poultry, cassava, groundnuts and fish farming.
These initiatives, he said, were undertaken in close collaboration with the states.
He commended the efforts of the governors of Kebbi, Lagos, Ebonyi and Jigawa states for their support to the rice and fertiliser revolutions.
He also commended the governors of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Cross River, Benue, Ogun, Kaduna and Plateau states for their support of the Presidential initiative for palm oil, rubber, cashew, cassava, potatoes and others crops.