In a statement issued on Thursday by the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the presidency has flawed former president Goodluck Jonathan’s claim on the alleged level of corruption in Nigeria under President Buhari’s watch.
The statement reads “The Presidency rejects former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s astonishing claim, to the utter surprise of many, that there is more corruption in the country compared to when he left office. This is absolutely untrue. The facts on the ground today run contrary to his outlandish claim.” While he defended the Buhari-led administration’s pursuit of the war against corruption, Shehu noted that President Buhari “has set a number of local and international records, one of which is to call judicial officers in Nigeria to account. He is the first to set such a record. Not only that, this is the first time that top military commanders and Service Chiefs are brought to trial and convictions were achieved on account of corruption.”
He added that asides this being “the first time a ruling party is convicting high profile citizens including former governors, who are members of the same party, this is also the first time the international community is acknowledging the efforts of a government of Nigeria in this regard as manifested by the selection of President Buhari by the African Union as the anti-corruption champion of the continent.”
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