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President
Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in the United
States vowed that his administration would trace the accounts of individuals
who stashed away ill-gotten oil money, freeze and recover the loot and
prosecute the culprits
Reacting
to questions from members of Nigerians in Diaspora Organization (NIDO) in the
United States and Canada at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC on the third
day of his visit, the President lamented that “Corruption in Nigeria has
virtually developed into a culture where honest people are abused.”
According
to him, “250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude are being stolen and people
sell and put the money into individual accounts,” adding that the United States
and other developed countries “are helping us to trace such accounts now.
We
will ask that such accounts be frozen and prosecute the persons. The amount
involved is mind-boggling. Some former ministers were selling about one million
barrels per day. I assure you that we will trace and repatriate such money and
use the documents to prosecute them. A lot of damage has been done to the
integrity of Nigeria with individuals and institutions already compromised.”
Citing
the example of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), President
Buhari said unlike what obtained during his tenure as Federal Commissioner for
Petroleum under military regime when the NNPC had only two traceable accounts
before paying oil proceeds into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), “now
everybody is doing anyhow.”
source:sahara