Buhari: Ex-govt officials returning looted funds, saboteurs responsible for persisting power problems

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that some former government officials have started voluntarily returning to the Federal Government’s coffers, part of the public funds they acquired illegally.
Buhari confirmed this during a question-and-answer session he had with members of the Nigerian community at the Nigerian House on Tuesday in Tehran, Iran.
He, however, stated that the present administration has intensified efforts to recover all public funds now in the private pockets of former government officials and their fronts.
He, however, said that government was not satisfied with the partial return of the “looted funds”.
“On corruption, yes, they are still innocent. But, we are collecting documents and some of them have started voluntarily returning something. But we want all.
“When we get those documents then we will formally charge them to court and then we will tell Nigerians those who abused trust when they were entrusted with public funds or when they took it by force for 16 years.
“So, the day of reckoning is gradually approaching.’’
Buhari explained that those accused of corruption would have been prosecuted by now but for the need to thoroughly investigate them with a view to gathering enough evidence for their eventual trial.
He said that it was easy for him, during his tenure as a military Head of State in 1985, to arrest and put alleged corrupt individuals “in protective custody’’ for them to prove their innocence.
He, however, said that at the moment, the dictates of the Rule of Law and due process had slowed him down in the prosecution of corruption cases.
The President attributed the epileptic power supply in the country to “power saboteurs who go and blow up installations’’.
“I believe if you are in touch back at home you would have been told that already there is some improvement in power.
“We haven’t said anything to them yet. I think they only find it sensible or appropriate for them to try and improve power supply.
“I’m sure you know about the privatisation of the power sector, your old friends NEPA or Power Holding Company of Nigeria have been sold to a number of interest groups.
President Buhari said to tackle the problem of sabotage of gas facilities that cause disruptions in the power sector the existing Military Task-Forces will be reorganized to ensure a successful protection of the network of gas pipelines. He assured that the Military Task-Forces with representation from the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Police and other security agencies will be reconstituted to secure the pipelines. “Supplies will become steady; there will be less sabotage as we secure the pipelines,” he stressed.
He told his audience that Nigeria had everything it takes to generate enough power.
“Power is a running battle because the saboteurs are still there. We have the potential. We have gas, we have qualified people but we are contending with a lot of saboteurs who go and blow up installations. When gas is pumped to Egbin and such other power stations, thieves and saboteurs such as the militants cut those supplies,” President Buhari said.
He pledged to deal with such saboteurs to restore sanity in the power sector and improve service delivery to Nigerians.
According to him, most parts of Nigeria have since begun to witness improved power supply without any direct policy directive on the power sector by his administration.
On security, Buhari reassured Nigerians of government’s resolve to eliminate the Boko Haram insurgency and restore peace in the North Eastern states of the country.
The President also restated government’s determination to address the rot in the country’s educational system, beginning from the primary school level to the tertiary level.
In a response to a question on the need to improve healthcare delivery, the President said that efforts had been intensified towards ridding the country of fake drugs and fake doctors, and also what he called “the disgraceful aspects” manifested by “baby factories.”
The President also said that something urgent will be done about the bad condition of roads, citing the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as one to be addressed from next week by the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who sat next to him at the meeting.
He commended the Nigerian community in Iran for its good conduct, saying that government will continue to encourage more Nigerians to study in that country because of the level of discipline and orderliness there.
In his remarks, the Nigerian Charge de Affairs in Iran, Dr Ali Magashi, attested to the zero crime rate among Nigerians living in Iran.
He, however, said that a few Nigerians based in Afghanistan had been arrested by the Iranian authorities for alleged drug trafficking.