The Presidency has said former President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim that there is more corruption in the country now compared to when he left office was not true.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, debunked the claim by the former president in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.
In the statement made available to the Next Edition, Shehu said Jonathan’s claim was untrue and that the facts on the ground today contradicted his claim.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari, in the fight against corruption, had set a number of local and international records, one of which was to call judicial officers in Nigeria to account.
Besides that, he noted that this was the first time top military commanders and Service Chiefs were brought to trial and convictions achieved on account of corruption.
Shehu further claimed that this was also the first time a ruling party would convict high profile citizens including former governors, who were members of the party.
The statement read in part: “This is the first time the international community is acknowledging the efforts of a government of Nigeria in this regard as manifested by the selection of President Buhari by the African Union as the Anti-Corruption Champion of the continent.
“For the records, this is the first time a ruling party is investigating ranking officers of the administration, including some at the very top.
“In addition to the many firsts recorded by President Buhari’s administration, the government has introduced a lot of changes, considering that the laws relating to the fight against corruption cannot reasonably be static.’’
Shehu contended that the current administration had initiated new legislations and proposed amendments to different sections of the law enumerating such to include: The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Bill 2017 (NFIU); Public Interest Disclosure and Witness Protection Bill; the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017; Proceeds of Crime Bill 2017; Anti-Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Bill 2017 and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill, 2017.
The presidential aide disclosed that the NFIU Act had been passed and the President gave assent on July 18.
Again, he said the administration was currently working with the legislature for an expedited passage of the Proceeds of Crimes Bill to make the anti-corruption war more effective.
Shehu called on Nigerians to dismiss Jonathan’s boast that he, not Buhari, introduced schemes such as the Biometric Verification Number, BVN, Treasury Single Account, TSA and the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
“Of what use is the announcement of good policies without the will to implement them?
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“Since President Buhari assumed office, Nigerians are witnesses to the huge success recorded through the implementation of the TSA where some government agencies that had over the years remitted peanut or nothing at all are now periodically pumping billions into government coffers.
“Prominent among these remittances include the ones made by Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
“While it is also true that the BVN was introduced in 2014 to ensure that all bank accounts have biometric identification of their owners, the lack of will and capacity under Dr Jonathan stalled implementation.
“Today, BVN covers nearly all bank accounts. There are still some individuals who have shielded their identity and are now afraid of enrolling on the BVN platform as this will expose them and their corrupt actions. The law is going after them,’’ he said.
He talked about the whistle-blower policy introduced by the government revealing that “within six months of introducing the policy, over 5,000 reports were made through various channels, 365 actionable tips were received out of the 5,000 reports,” adding that “more than N200 billion had been recovered through the policy.”
The statement said further: “Finally, as evidenced from a fleeting look at the book, the former President had nothing to say about his own achievements. If there was a recession, and yes we had a moment in it, was it due to one year of President Buhari’s government?
“In his efforts to blame everyone but himself for his failures, Dr. Jonathan heaped the blame for the predictable economic recession on President Buhari, ignoring the seeds sown under him through mismanagement and the process set in firm roots for the decline of the economy. Evidently, he did nothing to avert the situation.’’
The lengthy statement, touching on the oil sector, claimed; “in the 16 years of PDP and earlier than that, the country solely relied on oil, the price of which was as high as 140 dollars per barrel under their watch.