The presidential palace has responded to the corruption forecast of Transparency International TI, which shows that Nigeria has gone backwards in the fight against corruption.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lia Mohammed, responded to the defense of the All Progressives Congress government on Wednesday, shortly after the conclusion of the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House. in Abuja.
According to Mohammed, the fight against corruption in Nigeria is not to please Transparency International in any way.
Remember that Transparency International through its mediator in Nigeria, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center CISLAC said that Nigeria has dropped from 150th to 154th place in the world corruption index in 2022.
It is related to many issues including the liberation of individuals, especially politicians who have been jailed for corruption. The World Anti-Corruption Commission has also made its assessment on dishonesty in budget allocation and implementation, including the waste of government services.
The Minister of Information and Culture also criticized the TI rating system, stressing that the fight against corruption is not only about arresting and prosecuting those who are suspected or involved in such acts. crimes.
He said, “Regarding the question on the evaluation of Transparency International of Nigeria, our position is the same. We are not fighting corruption because we want to impress Transparency International or any organization.
“We are fighting corruption because we believe that if we do not fight corruption, there will be no progress economically or even politically. Therefore, what we do and what we wear to fight corruption is not because we want everyone to trust us.
“However, I can assure you that we do not know what model TI is using. Whatever model they are using is clearly oblivious to what this government is doing, to fight corruption.
“The fight against corruption is not about how many people have you arrested?” How many people have you tried? How many people have you judged? Of course even in this aspect, we have a very impressive history, is it EFCC or ICPC? You seem, if you look at what we do even to commit adultery, it is almost impossible or difficult…
“I will give you just two examples, for example, this government when the money stolen by Abacha was returned, some money was recovered from USD, UK and Europe, what this government did was, instead of paying these money. The treasury was also faced with the possibility of their theft or repossession, the government decided that we will put these funds in a separate account, and ask for a national investment fund to manage these funds, and we use these funds to carry out some special projects”. .
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