Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has attributed his government’s failure to prosecute holistically looters of the nation’s treasury, especially those in the oil sector, to ‘lack of evidence’.
Buhari, in an interview with Peter Okwoche of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, in London, United Kingdom, after attending a conference on the ongoing Syrian crisis, said that there was no way he could go ahead to fight the ongoing war against corruption successfully without having viable evidence to backup the prosecution of such cases.
Making an indirect reference to the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deizani Alison-Madueke, and others, Buhari pointed out that government’s agencies were currently embarking on vigorous excavation in order to unveil evidences and documents which they consider very vital for successful prosecution.
Buhari said, “The battle against corruption, particularly in the petroleum has not been successful because of lack of evidence. We are gathering those documents because to prosecute corruption successfully, we need evidence.
That’s not easy, especially in the petroleum sector, and that is why we have not achieved much in the sector.”
He noted that gathering such evidence may take longer time than expected and some of those accused of stealing state funds are meticulous in concealing their assets, making it difficult for detectives. He, however, expressed optimism that the war against corruption will surely be won for the benefit of the whole country.
It Will be recalled that President Buhari, from inception, has threatened to prosecute all those who showed highhandedness in the nation’s financial system.
Alison-Madueke, however has been in the APC government’s black book, since May 2015, especially on allegation of over $20 billion reportedly missing from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a former Central Bank Governor, and now Emir of Kano, had lamented in the past years that money got missing under Alison- Madueke, leading to an inquiry by the National Assembly. An audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the alleged missing $20 billion oil money, was said to have confirmed in the first instance that at least $18.5 billion was indeed missing.
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