For President Muhammadu Buhari to regain the trust Nigerians have for him and his ability to fight corruption head-on, he needs to do more than mere preaching of trust abuse by political appointees.
Coordinator of a socio-political group, The Integrity Elite (TIE), Mr. Lanre Ogidan said this in a statement in Akure, the Ondo State capital, on Sunday, while commenting on the President’s reaction to the ongoing probe of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and the Economic Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, that some of his appointees have abused the trust he had for them.
In the statement, which was sent to The Radiance, Ogidan stressed that Buhari needs to renew his strength and strong will to fight corruption by ensuring that those who were involved in the N81 billion NDDC extra budgetary spending and monumental fraud in EFCC must be brought to book and made to face severe punishment that correspond to the offences committed.
He noted that only such move by the Presidency can put a stop to further looting of the nation’s commonwealth by those trusted with management of the scare resources.
He said: “The President has already identified and confirmed that there had been an abuse of trust by the people trusted by the previous administration and this administration. The next and right step to take now is to go ahead and prosecute those who abused the trust without further delay.
“We can not continue undermining the corruption syndrome that has eaten deep into our political system and economic well-being as a nation, hence the whole structure will collapse on us one day.
“President Mohammadu Buhari must be on the same page with the National Assembly on the ongoing probe of the NDDC and must also give the necessary backing and support to the Justice Ayo Salami panel on the alleged fraud in EFCC, so that he can enjoy the support of Nigerians in his bid to fight corruption.”
Ogidan also advised the Presidency to extend its dragnet on corruption to other government ministries, departments and agencies to flush out bad eggs from the system and make it corruption free at all levels of government.
