ACTING chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, has said that unless there is a strong resistance from more-than-180-million Nigerians, looters of public treasury who are not more than 10,000 in number are desperate to mortgage the future of the country.
He accused this breed of few Nigerians of being responsible for the ongoing agitations by separatist groups in the country.
Magu, who was in Kano, Kano State, on Friday, for an interactive session with civil society groups, said the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo possessed the political will to fight corruption, declaring that “the time to kill corruption is now”.
“How can we allow an insignificant figure out of our population to continue milking the resources of this nation? How can we allow them to achieve their selfish ambition as they continue to swim in their ill-gotten wealth? We must rise up and fight this battle, and surely, we will root them out if we are determined. The ball is in our court.
“We must stop celebrating corruption. We must all fight back. Fighting corruption is a patriotic duty. Everyone must be on board for a mission which is national requiring commitment and determination”, Magu stated.
He alleged that the corrupt elements in the country are the ones behind the activities of those clamouring for Biafra, restructuring and insurgency, saying that corruption “is fighting back” through the financing of this set of people.
“Those clamouring for secession, restructuring and conducting activities that pose security challenges are bent on causing confusion to distract the attention of Nigerians. Their sponsors are using stolen public funds to support these actions. Nigeria is one and will remain as one.
“They have gone far. They have gone too far. We must stop them, everything thing must be done. There is the need for preventive measures”, the EFCC boss said.
Magu described the fight against corruption as critical to the survival of Nigeria, saying looting of public funds and other social vices that posed a threat to the country must be fought to a standstill.
He revealed that looters of public funds have now resorted to sponsorship of religious activities in order to gain the sympathy of unsuspecting Nigerians.
According to him, the anti-graft agency does not have the monopoly of knowledge and zeal to tame the corrupt tendency among the country’s population and, therefore, it behoves every Nigerian to be a part of the crusade to liberate the country from “these satanic illicit affairs.”
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