President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday warned international criminal groups to desist from their plots to cheat Nigeria of billions of dollars.
According to him, Nigeria is giving notice to the international criminal groups by the vigorous prosecution of the Process and Industrial Development Limited (P&ID) scam attempting to cheat Nigeria of billions of dollars.
A UK court had recently awarded a private company, P&ID a $9.6 billion judgment debt against Nigeria.
Buhari spoke in New York during the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
He had presented Nigeria’s National Statement as the fifth speaker on the first day of the General Debate.
The President also declared his administration is facing the challenges of corruption head-on.
He called on major tech companies to be alive to their responsibilities over social media outlets responsible for fuelling major crimes such as mass killings.
He said “They cannot be allowed to continue to facilitate the spread of religious, racist, xenophobic and false messages capable of inciting whole communities against each other, leading to loss of many lives. This could tear some countries apart.
“No threat is more potent than poverty and exclusion,” noting that, “They are the foul source from which common criminality, insurgency, cross-border crimes, human trafficking and its terrible consequences draw their inspiration.”
Describing poverty “as one of the greatest challenges facing our world,” President Buhari noted that, “Its eradication is an indispensable requirement for achieving sustainable development,” while highlighting his administration’s efforts to overcome the challenge.
On the 2019 presidential elections, he said “our people backed the politics of tolerance, inclusion and community over the politics of protest and division.”
President Buhari also reaffirmed Nigeria’s position on other issues which impinge on global peace, security, progress, democracy and development.
Reflecting on the theme of the current General Assembly, “Galvanising multilateral efforts for poverty eradication, quality education, climate action and inclusion”, Buhari said they are the prime areas calling for collective action which will benefit national and global interests.
