The Presidency on Sunday said the current war being waged against corruption by the present administration is not negotiable.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.
He was reacting to an earlier statement by ministers, who served under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Shehu asked the affected persons, who he described as “members of the country’s latest trade union formation, the Association of Ex-Jonathan Ministers”, to do a bit of self-reflection on the sort of government they handed over to President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.
He said such self-reflection would make the former ministers to decide if it would have been right for any incoming government to ignore the issue of the brazen theft of public assets, which he said appeared to be the first of its kind in the country.
Shehu added that earlier statements that there was no witch-hunt or malice against anyone in the pursuit of the county’s stolen assets, still stood.
He said, “This war against corruption knows no friend nor foe.
“There is no intention to deny anyone of their good name where they are entitled to it and President Buhari reserves the highest regards for the country’s former leaders including Dr Goodluck Jonathan, who he continues to praise to high heavens for the way and manner in which he accepted defeat in the last election.
“That singular action remains a feat that has earned the former President and Nigeria as a country befitting commendations all over the world, the latest coming from Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who visited a week ago.
“For the purpose of emphasis, the issue of fighting corruption by President Buhari is non negotiable.
“It is sine qua non to the overall reconstruction of the economy and social systems which suffered destruction and severe denigration under the last administration.
“President Buhari will not be deterred or blackmailed into retreat and surrender.”
Shehu said nobody in the Peoples Democratic Party could accuse Buhari of undermining the economy when all they handed over to him was at best, “a tottering economy hobbled by corruption and the absence of due process.”
He said things had become worsened by the continuing fall in the price of oil, which is expected to fall even further with the imminent full return of Iran to the market.
The President’s spokesman added that all the President had been doing while around was to put things together, organising to defeat Boko Haram, paying outstanding salaries, cleaning up the mess left behind, improving security and restoring the country’s relationships with neighbours and the world.
Punch
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