President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the Federal Government is determined to end the menace of corruption in all sectors.
Speaking at the 2nd National Summit on Diminishing Corruption and launch of the country’s National Ethics and Integrity Policy organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), the president stressed the need for a stronger collaboration among the three tiers of government to help kill corruption in the country.
The president also called on all Nigerians to join government in fighting corruption so as to return the country to its good values of honesty and integrity.As military Head of State, I fought corruption headlong and held public officers who abused their office or misused public funds to account. Furthermore, I introduced the War Against Indiscipline (WAI), one of whose cardinal objectives was promotion of our cherished culture of ethical conduct, integrity and hard work.
“I recognized in 1984 as I do even more now that corruption poses a clear danger to Nigeria, so, we cannot relent in efforts to eradicate it from our society. As I have often reminded Nigerians, “If we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.
“In my Inaugural Speech in 2015, I affirmed the determination of this administration to rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective and serviceable. I charged public servants to apply themselves with integrity to stabilize the system and solicited the cooperation of the Legislative arm to maintain their brief of making laws and carrying out oversight functions.
“We must all join hands together to fight corruption and return to our traditional values of honesty and integrity. I hereby use the opportunity of this Summit to launch the National Ethics and Integrity Policy as a fresh roadmap to return Nigeria to these critical national values,” he said.
The president, who underscored the significance of establishing the ICPC, also called for a reform of the country’s judiciary to boost the fight against corruption.“This year marks two significant hallmarks in the history of our country. A few days from now, we will, by the grace of God, be celebrating Nigeria’s 60th Anniversary as an independent sovereign nation,” Buhari said.
