Buhari to Kerry: Corruption is fighting us

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has alerted the United States government that his administration’s effort to rid Nigeria was meeting stiff resistance as those involved in corruption were fighting back.

Meeting with American Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Wednesday, on the margins of conference on climate change, COP22, in Marrakech, Morocco, he told him that the anti-corruption war was tough and gruelling, “with corruption fighting vigorously back,” but assured that the battle would be won.

President Buhari said corrupt people had accumulated a formidable arsenal of illicit wealth, which they were now deploying against the government on diverse fronts.

“But it is a war we are determined to win, and which we will win,” President Buhari said. “People of goodwill are behind us, countries like America and many others are with us, and we will surely win.”

The President also updated Secretary Kerry on the war against insurgency in the north-east of Nigeria, efforts being made to tackle humanitarian problems caused by the insurgency, informing that a presidential committee had been launched “under Gen T.Y. Danjuma, a man of high integrity.”

On the unrest in the Niger Delta area, which manifests in the sabotage of critical oil and power installations, he said the engagement process was proceeding apace, adding that it was rather difficult bringing the main protagonists of the insurgency under one umbrella.

The President said Nigeria was happy with American support on different fronts, assuring that the economic challenges facing the country were being “frontally tackled, and we will overcome them soon.”

Secretary Kerry expressed delight at the many successes of the Buhari administration, pledging continued US support in the bid to overcome security, humanitarian, political, and economic challenges.

As the Barrack Obama administration exits next January, Kerry said he would love to continue engaging with Nigeria, even in a private capacity. He described President Buhari as a strong international partner in the battle against violent extremism.