Buhari Can Never Be Friends With Corrupt Politicans – Adesina

Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari cannot be friends with politicians who steal from the coffers of the nation.

Naija News reports that Adesina made this known in an article titled: “PMB and NDDC,” released via his Facebook page on Thursday night.

He disclosed that the President hates corruption with passion and would continue to fight the war against the menace until his tenure expires in 2023.

Adesina stated that the corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) made the President suspend the management of the commission and set up a forensic audit of the agency.

He wrote: “Once it’s confirmed that you are filching from the public purse, you can never be his friend, no matter who you are.”

“So he had to bring to a halt the gravy train that the NDDC had become over the years. And no stampede, no rout or panic. The house cleaning must be done and done well. Thorough.”

He added: “In the Niger Delta, you see plenty of signboards, but little or no projects. In other words, people collect contracts, erect signboards announcing the project, but the job never gets done. And the contractors get paid.
What to do? A forensic audit was necessary.

“Some powerful forces mounted robust resistance, but they didn’t reckon with the iron will of the President. The audit was done, and the report was submitted.

“On December 30, 2021, while commissioning prototype hostels built by the NDDC at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, President Buhari gave inkling into the shape of things that were to come.

“The ultramodern hostel complex, built and donated to the University of Uyo by NDDC, renews our confidence that the forensic audit, which has been completed and currently being reviewed for necessary action, has achieved one of its core objectives. That objective is to rebuild the NDDC into an agency that is equipped and better placed to facilitate sustainable regional development in a transparent and impactful way.

“He added that if the resources pumped in over the years had been justified with verifiable projects, it would have impacted on the region, and on the lives of the people.”

Adesina noted that the President will compose the Board of the NDDC now that corruption has been defeated in the agency.

He added: “There has been a strident clamour for a composition of the Board of the NDDC. It is inexorable that it would come, but it should never be the business as usual we experienced in the past. Honest service to the people must be the watchword. That is what President Buhari has in mind, and that is what we should get. Order is better than speed, and we will get there.

“In the past couple of years, NDDC has recorded more positive strides than it did in about 15 years. It even has a befitting head office, something deemed impossible before now. That is what is possible with honest leadership in a country. Will we ever return to Egypt because of the free onions, garlic and leeks, but which eventually lead to servitude? Never! Forward ever, backward never. Nigeria should have learnt its lesson by now.”