WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION IS MANDATORY- Presidency

The presidency has questioned why some ministers who served under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan are raising dust concerning President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort to probe the way the nation’s resources were spent in the past administration.

According to PM News, the senior special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Malam Garba Shehu said the presidency had made it clear that the fight against corruption was not narrowed to a particular group but was a quest to retrieve the country’s stolen loot.

This was made known in a statement issued by Shehu on Sunday, August 30 in which he also said that President Buhari had the highest regard for Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat after the election. He said the action earned the former president global respect but insisted that the war against corruption was nonnegotiable.

The statement read: “This war against corruption knows no friend nor foe. There is no intention to deny anyone of their good name where they are entitled to it and that President Buhari reserves the highest regards for the country’s former leaders, including Dr. Jonathan Goodluck who he continues to praise to the high heavens for the way and manner in which he accepted defeat in the last election.

“This singular action remains a feat that has earned the former president and Nigeria as country befitting commendations all over the world, the latest coming from Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who visited a week ago.

“For the purpose of emphasis, the issue of fighting corruption by President Buhari is non-negotiable. It is sine-qua-non to the overall reconstruction of the economy and social systems which suffered destruction and severe denigration under the last administration.

President Buhari will not be deterred or blackmailed into retreat and surrender.

“No one in the PDP can accuse President Buhari of undermining the economy when all they handed over to him is at best, a tottering economy hobbled by corruption and the absence of due process. All he has been doing while around is to put things together, organizing to defeat Boko Haram, paying outstanding salaries, cleaning up the mess left behind, improving security and restoring our relationships with neighbors and the world.

“So what are former ministers afraid of in these things? Have they become a new trade union? Let this collection of ex-VIPs allow the President the peace he needs to handle the reconstruction of the economy and the nation in a manner that most serves Nigeria’s best interests. President Buhari does not need these types of distraction presented by the so-called association of former ministers.”

Meanwhile, former ministers who served under the jonathan administration expressed disappointment in the manner in which President Buhari is going about the probe of the previous administration.

The ex-ministers have urged Buhari to show respect to Jonathan in his actions and utterances as a former president of Nigeria, who paved the way for his emergence.