The President
made the assertion, on 1st of September 2015 at the opening of the
45th Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria,
ICAN, in Abuja.
President
Muhammadu Buhari has said Nigerians have no business with poverty given the
enormous resources the country has.
The
President, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance,
Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia, blamed the poverty in the land on mis-governance and
lack of transparency.
Meanwhile,
former Minister of State for Finance, Mr Remi Babalola, has recommended
compulsory assets declaration for all principal officers in the executive arm
of government as a means of checking the menace of corruption.
President
Buhari said the nation’s ability to create wealth had increasingly been
hampered by lack of good governance and accountability in the management of
public resources at all levels in the past.
Buhari said:
“As blessed as we are as a nation, Nigerians have no business being classified
as poor. Yet, through the greed of some unpatriotic few, our commonwealth has
been badly pillaged in the name of public service.
“Our ability
as a nation to create wealth has increasingly been hampered by the lack of
prudence, transparency and honesty in the management of public resources by
some of those entrusted with the duty of governance at all levels in the past,
so much that in the midst of plenty, Nigerians are now suffering great
deprivation.
“This should
not be allowed to continue. The project called Nigeria must be given our all.
The nation ought and must leave the throes of poverty and under-development
because I believe we are naturally destined for greatness.’’
While calling
for a collective effort in fighting the cankerworm, he expressed optimism of a
glorious future, and urged Nigerians not to thrive on the illusion that the
battle for enthronement of the right values will be easy as according to him,
‘corruption will certainly fight back’.
But he said
his administration is resolute in its desire to effect a change in the nation’s
value system.
‘‘To achieve
this, we must collectively resolve to build today for a blissful tomorrow. I am
optimistic that the glorious dawn we all hope for will not be long in coming.
“But we are
resolute in our commitment to effect change in our value system. We will give
the battle our all to guarantee victory,’’ he said.
Buhari said
he would lead by example by making effort to live above board, and promised to
overhaul the bureaucracy of the public sector to further engender transparency
and improve productivity in public governance.
Similarly,
the President assured that his administration would strengthen the
anti-corruption war by reinvigorating the Economic and Financial Crime
Commission, EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related, ICPC
to reinforce accountability in public governance.
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