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| British prime Minister - David Cameron in an handshake with President of Nigeria - Muhammadu Buhari |
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday agreed with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, that Nigeria “is a fantastically corrupt” country.
Buhari spoke briefly with Sky News’ Diplomatic Editor, Dominic Waghorn, after he delivered his keynote address at the Commonwealth event tagged, “Tackling corruption together: A conference for civil society, business and government leaders,” held at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London.
The brief interaction took place as Buhari was making his way out of the venue alongside some dignitaries.
According to a video of the interaction posted on the news medium’s website and monitored by one of our correspondents, the President also told his interviewer that he was not embarrassed by Cameron’s statement.
The following discussion ensued:
Waghorn: Will you like an apology from the Prime Minister?
Buhari: No, no. Not at all.
Waghorn: Are you embarrassed by what he (Cameron) said?
Buhari: No, I’m not.
Waghorn: Is Nigeria fantastically corrupt?
Buhari: Yes.
Buhari had earlier on Wednesday said he would not demand an apology from Cameron for describing Nigeria as a “fantastically corrupt” country.
Rather, Buhari who is currently in London for an anti-corruption summit, said all he would demand from Cameron was the return of Nigeria’s stolen assets.
The President spoke while answering questions after he delivered his keynote address at the Commonwealth event in London.
He made reference to a former governor of Bayelsa State, the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was accused of jumping bail in UK in 2005.
He said Britain was prepared to return the former governor’s assets to Nigeria.
In his words, “I am not going to be demanding any apology from anybody. What I will be demanding is the return of assets. I have already mentioned how disgraceful one of Nigeria’s executives was. He had to dress like a woman to leave Britain and left behind his bank account and fixed assets which Britain is prepared to hand over to us.
“This is what I am asking for. What will I do with an apology? I need something tangible,” Buhari said amidst laughter from participants.
The President recalled a report titled ‘Nigeria’s Criminal Crude: International Options to Combat the Export of Stolen Oil” released by Chatham House, London, in 2013, which revealed that Nigerian crude oil was being stolen on an industrial scale and exported.
The report, he added, stated that the proceeds were laundered through world financial centres by transnational organised criminals.
He said apart from the fact that the report identified oil theft as an organised crime, it also noted that Nigeria could not stop the trade single-handedly.
He therefore urged the international community to designate oil theft as international crime.
Buhari said, “Opaque and murky as these illegal transactions may be, they are certainly traceable and can be acted upon, if all governments show the required political will. This will has been the missing link in the international efforts hitherto. Now in London, we can turn a new page by creating a multi-state and multi-stakeholder partnership to address this menace.”
On his part, he said Nigeria was committed to signing the Open Government Partnership initiatives alongside Prime Minister David Cameron during the summit on Thursday.
credits: punhng.com
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