(Adetutu Folasade-Koyi)
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, has said there is no friend or foe in the Buhari administration’s campaign against corruption.
The spokesman said that the administration will not hesitate to prosecute any member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) indicted for corruption.
Speaking in an interview with Premium Times, Adesina said:
“On anti-corruption, of course we know what has been uncovered in this country.
“I remember in the United Kingdom (UK) about two weeks ago, one foreign media asked the president – did you know it was this bad?
“He confessed that he knew it was bad but he didn’t know it was that bad. It has turned out very, very bad. But it is also something that the government is tackling and the president is determined to leave a saner and cleaner Nigeria in terms of accountability and probity by the way he is going.
“No matter what anybody says about this corruption war, no friend not foe, no retreat, no surrender.”
Adesina, a former managing director of The Sun newspaper insisted the corruption war of this administration is not selective as it being viewed in some quarters.“Anybody, irrespective of who he is, if he has questions to answer on corruption, he will have to answer it.
“I heard people say that it is selective. They need to prove. He who alleges must also prove. The anti-corruption war is going on and going on very well and it has earned Nigeria a lot of respect in the international community.
“You don’t just go running after people because you want to give the semblance of a balance.
“If there is no allegation against an APC person or if there is no prima facie case, you don’t just bring them to trial just because you want to create a balance.
But, if there is any prima facie case or there is a need for any APC person to be pulled in for question or to tried, you be sure that that will happen.
“The president has answered that question and the challenge he threw was – give me the evidence against them. You can’t just on the basis of suspicion say this person is corrupt.
“If there is evidence against them, give me the evidence. He said it even in his media chat recently. He said, ‘if you have evidence even against a serving minister, that minister will answer for it.’ That is the president for you.
“Then the second leg of the question is – how many people have been convicted? Unfortunately, the executive does not convict. The executive does not pronounce judgement. There is absolutely nothing the executive can do in a polity where there is separation of powers. There is separation of powers and so the executive cannot convict and it cannot lean on the judiciary to begin to convict. The onus is on the judiciary to know that it has a role to play if Nigeria will win this anti-corruption war. But, has the war been on course, no doubt it is on course.”
Adesina reiterated that the president will make good a campaign promise to turn the economy around.
“The third promise he made was to revive the economy. Like I said earlier, that one is still key and touchy but, it will be done because when the economy collapses as Nigeria’s did, it is not something you bring back by a snap of the fingers. It takes a lot of re-tooling and re-engineering to bring it back.
“It is work in progress and we will get there. No doubt, jobs will come from agriculture and solid minerals and other policies will stimulate the economy. It is N6 trillion budget, for instance. for the first time. If it is properly implemented and there is no reason why it will not be properly implemented, it will stimulate the economy.
“There will be more spending money at the disposal of Nigerians. So, I will say; so far so good, the government is on course. I have used this illustration before I will use again. It is like a plane that has taken off and it is gaining altitude and its nose is in the air. As long as its nose is in the air, it is climbing.
“If the nose is down it is a danger signal.”