Buhari regards corruption as an existential threat that must be dealt with - Osinbajo
The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo said the Buhari administration has reached out to the U.S. government to increase its assistance in ensuring that corrupt officials do not get a safe haven abroad for their loot.
The Vice President, who said this during the visit of a U.S. Congressional Delegation to the Presidential Villa, said both countries were working on a prompt repatriation of the funds.
“We have reached out to the US government with respect to helping with repatriation of proceeds of crime and proceeds of corruption.’’
Osinbajo, who was appreciative of the support given by the U.S. so far, said the Buhari administration regarded “corruption is an existential threat’’ that must be dealt with at its root.
“We have worked quite closely with the U.S. government on repatriation of funds. We have seen some results,’’ he said.
He added that the federal government expected more improvement in the process.
Osinbajo also noted that what tended to happen with corrupt public officials was that if they were able to find a safe haven for the proceeds of their criminality, they continued with the crime.
Osinbajo stated that there was the general feeling that “if I am able to get the proceeds out of the country i might just get away with it.
“This is one of the reasons we have taken several actions to ensure that we are able to deal with it.
“Because some of the major dislocations in the economy are on account of the problems that we have seen with corruption.’’
He said the Buhari Presidency’s strategy which is one of “the most effective ways of fighting corruption, is ensuring that these proceeds are unsafe.’’
He added that the strategy was for people to know that they would be found out and would be punished for it “and we would seize whatever profit they had gain.’’
The Vice President thanked the U.S. government for its recent decision to sell Super Tucano aircraft to Nigeria to aid its fight against insurgency in the North-East.
Christopher Coons, who led the delegation, said the visit was to reaffirm the relationship between Nigeria and the U.S., noting that the U.S. had “an enduring enthusiasm and partnership with Nigeria’’.
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