Corruption Fighting Back, Buhari Tells US Secretary of State

By Tobi Soniyi in Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that the anti-corruption war is tough and gruelling, with corruption fighting vigorously back, but assured that the battle would be won.

The president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said Buhari spoke during a meeting with American Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Wednesday on the margins of the conference on climate change, COP22, in Marrakech, Morocco.

Adesina said Buhari told Kerry that corrupt people had accumulated a formidable arsenal of illicit wealth, which they were now deploying against the government on diverse fronts.

The president said: ‎ “But it is a war we are determined to win, and which we will win.

“People of goodwill are behind us. Countries like America and many others are with us, and we will surely win.”

The president also updated Kerry on the war against insurgency in the North-east of Nigeria and efforts being made to tackle humanitarian problems caused by the insurgency.

He informed Kerry that a presidential committee had been launched under Gen Theophilus Danjuma for that purpose.

On the unrest in the Niger Delta area, which manifests in the sabotage of critical oil and power installations,  Buhari said the engagement process was proceeding apace, adding that it was rather difficult bringing the main militant groups under one umbrella.

The president said Nigeria was happy with American support on different fronts, assuring that the economic challenges facing the country were being “frontally tackled, and we will overcome them soon.”

Kerry expressed delight at the many successes of the Buhari administration, pledging continued U.S support in the bid to overcome security, humanitarian, political, and economic challenges.