President Muhammadu Buhari has said that corrupt people had accumulated a formidable arsenal of illicit wealth which they are now deploying against the government on many fronts.
The president, in a statement by his special adviser, media, Femi Adesina, described the anti-corruption war as tough, with corruption vigorously fighting back.
President Buhari, who said this at a meeting with US Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Wednesday, on the margins of conference on climate change, COP22, in Marrakech, Morocco, however, gave the assurance that the battle would be won.
He said: “But it is a war we are determined to win, and which we will win. People of goodwill are behind us; countries like America and many others are with us, and we will surely win.”
The president also gave Secretary Kerry an update on the war against insurgency in North-East Nigeria, efforts being made to tackle humanitarian problems caused by the insurgency, and said a presidential committee had been launched under Gen T.Y. Danjuma, who he described as a man of high integrity.
On the unrest in the Niger Delta area, which manifests in the sabotage of critical oil and power installations, President Buhari said the engagement process was proceeding apace, but that it was rather difficult to bring the main protagonists of the militancy under one umbrella.
He stated that Nigeria was happy with American support on different fronts, just as he assured that the economic challenges facing the country were being “frontally tackled, and we will overcome them soon.”
Secretary Kerry expressed delight at the many successes of the Buhari administration, pledging continued US support in the bid to overcome security, humanitarian, political, and economic challenges.
With Barack Obama’s administration exiting in January, Kerry said he would like to continue engaging with Nigeria, even in a private capacity.
He described President Buhari as a strong international partner in the battle against violent extremism.
