PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said he will
not hesitate to prosecute party loyalists and those
who supported his Presidency bid during the 2015
presidential election if any of them was involved in
corrupt practices.
not hesitate to prosecute party loyalists and those
who supported his Presidency bid during the 2015
presidential election if any of them was involved in
corrupt practices.
He also said that some unnamed persons
pressurised him to contest the 2015 presidential
election which he won.
He said the pressure mounted on him was too
enormous that he could not resist it.
Buhari spoke in an interview he granted a magazine,
The Interview.
Buhari, while faulting claims that he had been
sparing those who sponsored his campaigns and
members of his All Progressives Congress in his
ongoing anti-corruption war, said he would come
down hard on any of his backers that cases of
corruption could be established against.
The President said, “Do you just grab people along
the road and take them off to court for trial just
because you want to create a semblance of
balance?
“First, there has to be an accusation which must be
properly investigated, and when a prima facie case
has been built, you prosecute.
“If any of my backers or party (APC) members has
anything established against them, let’s see whether
I will shield anyone from prosecution.
“There seems to be a preponderance of the People
Democratic Party members standing trial because
they had been in power for 16 years, they had
access to the public treasury and abused the trust
reposed in them.
“You can be assured that anybody caught in
corruption will answer for it irrespective of party,
tribe or religion.”
He said those who pressurised him did so because
of their belief that he was in good stead to rescue
the nation which he said was falling apart at the
time.
He said, “You will recall that shortly before the 2011
presidential election, I had said it was the last time
I would offer myself for elective position and I
meant it, but the following years, we saw our
country virtually falling apart on all fronts.
“People felt a rescue exercise was necessary and a
large number believed I could do it.
“They made overtures to me and the pressure was
so enormous that I could not say no. As they say,
the rest is history. “
Responding to criticism that his administration had
been slow, Buhari said there was no wisdom in
rushing things.
He said anybody who rushed things would end up
with avoidable mistakes and regrets.
“There is still a lot of wisdom in the saying, ‘slow
and steady wins the race.’
“If they say we are slow, do they also say we are
steady?
“Then, it means we will win the race eventually.
“There is no wisdom in being in a rush and
messing up everything. You will make avoidable
mistakes and end up with a lot of regrets,” he said.
Buhari also said he would wait for the advice of the
Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar
Malami (SAN), on whether to prosecute those who
voluntarily returned looted funds or not.
“We will note the recommendation of the Attorney
General of the Federation. We do not want to
deliberately disgrace people. All we want is public
money back,” he explained.
The President also justified his allocation of three
ministries to the Minister of Power, Works and
Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), saying the
man did well as Lagos State governor.
“The economic realities demanded that we merge
ministries and we did.
“Putting three critical ministries under one man was
determined by the ability to perform.
“This is a man who had ruled a state excellently for
eight years and as they say, the reward for hard
work is more work,” he said.
