President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday in Abuja that his administration has received firm assurances of cooperation from the U.S. and other countries on the recovery and repatriation of funds stolen from Nigeria. A press release from the presidential spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, said Buhari gave the indication at an audience with members of the Northern
Traditional Rulers Council, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar.
The release noted that Buhari said that it was now up to Nigeria to provide the international community with the facts and figures needed to drive the recovery effort. “In the next three months, our administration will be busy getting those facts and figures to help us recover our stolen funds in foreign countries,’’ the President told the traditional rulers.
Citing the report submitted by the Ahmed Joda-led transition committee, Buhari said that several revenue-generating institutions in the country had been compromised, leading to a weak economy.
On insecurity, the President said that the monarchs could play a key role in stemming terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria by assisting the government with cost-effective intelligence gathering. Buhari also assured them that his administration was working hard to end insecurity and terrorism in the country in the shortest time possible– with the cooperation of neighbouring countries and the international community.
Acknowledging that Nigerians expected a lot from his administration, the President appealed for patience and understanding, while his government worked diligently to speedily overcome the huge national challenges it inherited. Sultan Abubakar had earlier presented the Northern Traditional Rulers’ recommendations to the President on issues related to national development.
The Sultan told the President that, as custodians of tradition and stakeholders in the Nigerian project, the traditional rulers had a responsibility to always advise political leaders on the “path of truth and justice”. “We have always advised our leaders, but their acceptance of our advice is their own prerogative,” the Sultan said. The traditional rulers assured the President of their unflinching support for his administration’s efforts to fulfil its promises to Nigerians.
