Our Anti-Graft War Is Blind To Party Affiliation, Position In Govt. – FG

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Federal Government has declared that its fight against corruption is blind to party affiliation, position in government and any other consideration.

It pointedly said that if the nation’s anti-corruption Czar can be investigated, then the fight against corruption cannot be deemed to be fake, neither can it be said to be waning.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated the position of the government on Wednesday at a press conference in Abuja, however said that anyone who disagrees that the anti-corruption fight is alive and well, is free to dare the government.
Mohammed said that the government is aware that Nigerians have recently been inundated with allegations of monumental corruption in a number of government agencies, including the NDDC, NSITF and the anti-corruption agency, EFCC.
He noted that many, especially naysayers, have misinterpreted the developments as a sign that the Administration’s fight against corruption is waning, adding that the main opposition PDP has latched on to the developments to call for the resignation of Mr. President, saying that the call is nothing but infantile!
Mohammed further said; “Let me state here and now that the fight against corruption, a cardinal programme of this Administration, is alive and well.
President Muhammadu Buhari, the African Union’s Anti-Corruption Champion, who also has an impeccable reputation globally, remains the driver of the fight and no one, not the least the PDP under whose watch Nigeria was looted dry, can taint his image or reverse the gains of the fight.

“Anyone who disagrees that the anti-corruption fight is alive and well is free to dare us. What the revelations of the past few weeks, especially the investigation of the nation’s anti-corruption Czar, have shown is that this Administration is not ready to sweep any allegation of corruption under the carpet; that there is no sacred cow in this fight, and that – unlike the PDP – we will not cover up for anyone, including the members of our party and government, who faces corruption allegations,” he said.
The minister said that he is not prepared to go into the details of the various corruption allegations be it the NDDC, NSITF, EFCC or any other agency because they are all still under investigation. Mohammed however said that the allegations of corruption in NDDC are not new, adding that what is new is the speed and seriousness with which the Buhari-led Administration has tackled, and is still tackling, the allegations.
He said that had such attention been paid to the running of the NDDC by previous Administrations, the Commission would probably have avoided its present predicament.

The minister said; “Is it not a sad irony, then, that those under whose watch the alleged freewheeling spending by the Commission started are now the ones accusing those who are cleaning up after them of corruption?
“As I said earlier, this Administration’s fight against corruption is as strong as ever, and we have the records to back up this claim. This Administration has recorded over 1,400 convictions, including high profile ones, and recovered funds in excess of 800 billion Naira, not to talk of forfeiture of ill-gotten properties. This is no mean feat.
“The fight against corruption is not about loot recovery or convictions alone. We are also putting in place enduring institutional reforms that will deter acts of corruption. Here we are talking about the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Whistleblower Policy, the expansion of the coverage of the Integrated Payroll Personnel and Information System as well as the Government Integrated Management Information System and the Open Government Partnership and Transparency Portal on Financial Transactions, among others.
“Let me also mention the ICPC’s Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Group, aimed at tracking performance of publicly-funded projects, and the Commission’s escalation of the use of administrative sanctions in the public service by periodically submitting, for sanction, names of public servants who are being prosecuted. There is also the review of the personnel and capital fund expenditure of MDAs.
“Therefore, those who are celebrating the so-called waning of the Administration’s anti-corruption fight are engaging in wishful thinking, and are not looking at the full ramifications of the fight,” Mohammed enthused.