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Senate President Ahmad Lawan has slammed critics of President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption in his administration.
Senator Lawan said those who are saying there’s more corruption in Nigeria under the President’s watch than previous administration are “simply trying to be partisan or petty”.
The Senate President stated this on Monday, after the second national summit on diminishing corruption and the launch of the national ethics and integrity policy by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
He said the current administration has done “so well”, adding that no previous government ever hinged its campaigns on fighting corruption like the Buhari-led government.
“I don’t know who they are and I don’t know what their facts are. But I will not speak to speculations; I speak to facts. I want to see the facts that there’s more corruption in this administration than the previous administrations,” said Lawan at the event.
“You will recall that in a particular former administration, we know that somebody once said that what people accused the government of corruption was simple stealing. This administration does not see anything that appears like corruption or thievery and leaves it untreated. So, I believe it depends on who is talking.
“If you have opposition, it is likely the opposition will tell you there’s so much ‘persecution’ of the opposition, that there’s so much corruption in this administration than the previous one. But we know the previous administrations.Advertisement
“Let me be a bit more decent and maybe non-political. But I want to tell you that this administration has done so well because we campaigned on the basis of three pillars of anti-corruption, the fight against insurgency and insecurity across the country, and the revitalisation of our economy.
“So, no administration or political party, in the history of Nigeria that fought its campaigns on the basis of fighting corruption in Nigeria. In fact, there were administrations that never mentioned corruption in their entire tenure.
“This administration has stood firmly, trying to fight corruption, and I want to believe that those who are saying there’s more corruption in Nigeria today than before are simply trying to be partisan or petty.”