President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday
confirmed that he had started receiving some
documents which indicted some former ministers
and other top government officials of massive
fraud, including oil theft. While describing the amount of money involved in
the shady deals as mind-boggling, the President
promised that his administration would use the
indicting documents and others still being compiled
to clamp down on the culprits and prosecute them. He also said while many Nigerians nickname him
Baba Go Slow because of the delay in forming his
cabinet, he would prefer to be slow and steady in
taking decisions. The President stated these while speaking at an
interactive session with Nigerians in the Diaspora at
the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, United
States, in continuation of his four-day official visit to
the country. Buhari said the documents revealed that some top
government officials moved as much as one million
barrels of crude oil per day for their personal
purposes. He said such officials also opened as many as five
bank accounts abroad for the purpose of
laundering money. He said by the time the process of compiling and
identifying the shady deals and those behind them
were completed, his administration would
approach countries where the loots were kept to
assist in repatriating them. The President said, We are now looking for
evidences of shipping some of our crude, their
destinations and where and which accounts they
were paid and in which country. When we get as much as we can get as soon as
possible, we will approach those countries to freeze
those accounts and go to court, prosecute those
people and let the accounts be taken to Nigeria. The amount of money is mind-boggling but we
have started getting documents. We have started
getting documents where some of the senior
people in government, former ministers, some of
them operated as much as five accounts and were
moving about one million barrels per day on their own. We have started getting those documents. I assure you that whichever documents we are
able to get and subsequently trace the sale of the
crude or transfer of money from Ministries,
Departments, Central Bank, we will ask for the
cooperation of those countries to return those
monies to Federation Accounts. And we will use those documents to arrest those
people and prosecute them. This, I promise
Nigerians. Buhari faulted the mode of operation of the Nigeria
National Petroleum Corporation, saying his
administration would check the excesses of the
corporation. The President restated his position on the removal
of subsidy, that it would bring more hardship to
Nigerians. He however said he would study the debate and
take a decision based on his experience. Who is subsidising who? But, people are gleefully
talking, remove subsidy. They want petrol to cost
N500 per litre. If you are working and subsidy is removed, you
cant control transport, you cant control market
women: the cost of food, the cost of transport. If you are earning N20,000 per day and you are
living in Lagos or Ibadan, the cost of transport to
work and back, the cost of food. You cannot
control the market women because they have to
pay what transporters charge them. If there is need for removing subsidy, I will study
it. With my experience, I will see what I can do. But
I am thinking about more than half of Nigerians,
who, virtually cannot afford to live. Where will they get the money to go to work? How
can they feed their families? How can they pay rent?
If Nigeria were not an oil producing country  all
well and good. Our refineries are not working. We have a lot of
work to do, he added. Buhari decried those he said had started calling him
Baba Go Slow because he had yet to form his
cabinet, weeks after his inauguration. He cited the example of previous government
under the Peoples Democratic Party which spent
more than two months to settle down during its 16
years of ruling the country. He said he would prefer to go slowly and steady in
administering the country. The President, however, said though his
administration might be accused of being slow, it
would be steady in fulfilling its campaign promises
to Nigerians. Buhari said, Within the past two weeks, I am being
asked when I am going to form my cabinet. And in
some quarters they are now calling me