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Anti-Corruption War: “If you have short-changed the treasury, you will be caught” – President Buhari

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President Buhari with State House Staff1President Muhammadu Buhari pledged Tuesday in Abuja his administration’s ongoing war against corruption will be vigorously sustained to rid the country of the debilitating effects of the wanton looting of public funds in past years.

Addressing State House staff who assembled to welcome him back from his recent vacation, President Buhari assured them that he will continue to lead the country with patriotic zeal, integrity, dedication and commitment to improving the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians.

“I have never in my life believed in corruption. If we make any mistake in what we are doing and compromise our integrity, the country will be further dragged back.

We’ll not touch anybody that did not touch public funds. If you behave yourself, you will sleep soundly, your children and families will enjoy respect.

But if you have short-changed the treasury, you will be caught and you’ll have your day in court,” the President said.

President Buhari with State House Staff2

The president reiterated the determination of his administration to stop all forms of fraud in the country.

He said that the security agencies are working to apprehend those engaging in currency racketeering across the country.

“For those who have plenty of naira and use bankers and others to stamp papers and buy the dollars and take them outside, we will have to do something else because we are alerting all security agencies.

All fraud must be stopped. This exercise will continue as long as this leadership is here. Whoever takes anything that does not belong to him and is not entitled to and he is caught, he will be documented and taken before the court,” he said.

He assured that he will continue to lead the country with patriotic zeal, integrity, dedication and commitment to improving the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians.

President Buhari with State House Staff4

The president also described the inability of 27 of the 36 state governments of the federation to pay the salaries of their workers as “a disgrace to Nigeria”.

“The matter that may shock you is that 27 out of the 36 states couldn’t pay salaries. This is a disgrace to Nigeria. Up till now, some of the states cannot pay salaries.

What happened to all we have been getting all this time? We looked left, right, centre, up and down and said; any saving? There was nothing, because we developed a consumption that we were not supposed to develop,” Buhari said.

The president, therefore, advised the states to diversify their sources of revenue generation to boost their financial positions.

Buhari thanked the State House staff for their service to the nation and urged them to remain patriotic and eschew corruption in the discharge of their duties.

“I’m asking you to re-dedicate yourselves to your country. As I said 30 years ago, we have no other country than Nigeria. We are determined to rehabilitate the country for coming generations.

The process of change is not easy but with your dedication, we can deal successfully with the issues that currently confront us,” he said.


President Buhari with State House Staff3

 

 

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