Corruption freezes development, insists on unconditional recovery of stolen assets - President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday, told world
leaders that corruption freezes development and
undermines the attainment of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
Presenting Nigeria’s Statement at the 71stSession of
the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA71) in New
York, on the theme, “Sustainable Development Goals: a
Universal Push to Transform the World,” the President
restated that “fighting corruption remains a cardinal
pillar” of the current administration.
President Buhari said Nigeria remained committed to
achieving the SGDs, which he noted, “underscore the
imperative for our collective will towards finding
enduring and sustainable solutions to addressing global
disparities.”
He also expressed delight that the anti-corruption
campaign has started yielding positive dividends
including significant recovery of stolen assets.
“The recovered funds are being channeled towards the
development of critical infrastructure and the
implementation of social inclusion programmes for our
people,” President Buhari said, adding that the capacity
of government agencies was being strengthened to
institutionalize reforms that will ensure transparency
and good governance.
He insisted that Nigeria will continue to call for speedy
and unconditional recovery of illicit assets stashed
abroad, stressing that “Nigeria supports the
development of an international legal framework to
enforce anti-corruption measures and strengthen
existing international institutions to effectively deal
with corrupt practices.”
While acknowledging that Nigeria is not spared the
adverse effects of the current global economic
downturn, the President noted that his administration
remained undeterred and has embarked on
comprehensive diversification reforms by shifting
emphasis to non-oil sectors of “mining, agriculture,
industrialization, infrastructure development and the
creation of the enabling environment for Foreign Direct
Investment.”
He stressed that “Our strategic objective is to stimulate
the economy, restore growth and accelerate recovery. In
doing this, we are taking measures to reduce the cost
of governance and increase expenditure on
infrastructure and ensure environmental best practices.”
On Climate Change, President Buhari said that Nigeria
is proud to have been part of the process leading to the
adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015, and
supports the African Union initiative on the Great Green
Wall to halt desertification.
While attributing the drying up of Lake Chad to the
negative consequences of Climate Change, he called for
global support to raise $14 billion US Dollars being the
estimated cost of restoration of the Lake over a five-
year plan.
The President said that it was in furtherance of the
country’s commitment to environmental sustainability
that Nigeria launched the cleanup of Ogoniland, even as
he called on development partners and multinationals
to contribute to the Ogoniland Restoration Fund.
The Nigerian leader also spoke on dangers posed by
global terrorists.
He pointed out that “Nigeria has made remarkable
progress in our resolve to defeat Boko Haram whose
capacity to launch orchestrated attacks as a formed
group has been severely degraded. In the last few
months, their operations have been limited to sporadic
use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) against soft
targets.”
Nigeria, he noted, will continue to fight terrorism
“based on the established rules of engagement and in
conformity with international best practices,” as he
called for enhanced international cooperation to defeat
the global scourge.
President Buhari also stated Nigeria’s position on flow
of migrants, statehood for Palestinians in conformity
with Security Council resolutions; the vital role of
youth to national development; nuclear security and the
reform of the United Nations Security Council to give
Africa adequate representation.
“Nigeria stands ready to serve Africa and the world on a
reformed Security Council to advance international
peace and security,” the President declared.