Mohammed said this at the second Town Hall meeting held in Kaduna organised to speak directly to Nigerians about the achievements, challenges and upcoming programmes of the government. He said that to complement efforts of the Federal Government in bringing treasury looters to book, the judiciary must put measures in place to dispose of corruption cases before it expeditiously. He said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration had fared well in the fight against corruption.
“Today, Nigerians are less tolerant of corruption and corrupt people than before. “This is because we have raised the bar in the fight against this cankerworm. We have also brought to the attention of Nigerians to the cost of corruption. “Thanks to the sensitisation campaign we launched earlier this year; Nigerians now know the cost of corruption, instead of just talking about it in abstract.
” In other words, it is not just that money is stolen, but such action also deprive the people of the benefits that would have accrued to them if the funds had been spent for the purposes they were meant.”
Mohammed said that the revelations from the 2.1 billion dollars stolen from arms deal was just a tip of the iceberg, as the total funds involved in the arms purchase was 15 billion dollars.
He noted that those who pocketed the money meant for upgrading the power infrastructure also succeeded in putting Nigerians in darkness. He assured the people that the fund recovered from the looters would be accounted for and be judiciously used for the development of the nation. Mohammed said that the 2016 Budget signed by the President would lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty. He said the government would embark on six social intervention areas that would greatly impact on the lives of every Nigerians.
The minister said that the administration took very seriously the concept of participatory democracy, by which citizens got involved in political decisions and policies that affect their lives. The Town Hall meeting, according to the minister, is conceived to bridge the communication gap between the government and the citizenry. He thanked the host Governor, Nasir el Rufai, and the key sponsor of the event, the Bank of Industry, for their support.
The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazzau and Communication, Adebayo Shittu were among the panelists that gave accounts of programmes, policies and activities of government at the event. Also in the panel were Ministers of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachikwu and Budget and Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed.
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