Lai: This government has sent corruption under the carpet

Lai Mohammed, minister of information, says the Buhari administration has sent corruption “under the carpet”.

Speaking in an interview with the Voice of America (VOA), Mohammed said in the second term, this government will be more determined in the fight against corruption.

He said the president will not compromise his anti-corruption programmes and policies.

Mohammed granted the interview in Washington, where he is said to be engaging international media and think tank, promote and reiterate the successes of Buhari’s government.

The minister said that the anti-corruption fight would be frontal in the agenda of the government because corruption is one of the major causes of poverty and underdevelopment in the country.

He spoke on how under the past administration, “55 Nigerians shared a whopping sum of N1.3 billion” equivalent to what the present administration had spent on infrastructure development in four years.

“The president is committed to the fight against corruption and the administration will continue with it,” he said.

“For example, the treasury single account has instituted accountability in government‘s earnings and spending and the whistle blower policy has led to the recovery of billions of naira.

“It takes more than four years to clean a country endemic in corruption. However, it is on record that this administration has driven corruption under the carpet in four years.

“In the next four years, therefore, the government will consolidate on the achievements recorded particularly in the fight against corruption.”

Speaking on insecurity, the minister said the administration would apply multi dimensional approach besides deployment of forces.

He said the government was not unaware of other remote causes of the crises in the affected areas including economic and social reasons, non-inclusiveness, lack of infrastructure and job opportunities.

The minister noted that, by and large, the administration had performed well in addressing insecurity and the country is safer than it was in 2015.

Specifically, he said the government had successfully secured the entire territory of the country from the Boko Haram while the farmers/herdsmen clash in Benue had been curtailed.

Mohammed said that the fight against banditry, killings and banditry in Zamfara and Kaduna has been put under control in the last two weeks because of the synergy among the security forces.

The minister also said that the administration has made progress in economy recovery with deliberate programmers of diversifying the economy through agriculture and other sectors as well as developing infrastructure.