Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari is under pressure from some highly-placed Nigerians to slow down his anti-graft war, but assured that the government will not pull the brakes because fighting corruption is what Nigerians want.
Prof. Osinbajo spoke during a meeting with a delegation from the Moslem Congress of Nigeria at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said the Vice President noted that the government had been getting regular messages from some Nigerian elites urging it to take it easy.
“We get regular messages from some Nigerian elites saying ‘cool down’ It is a very strange morality, that some of those people have, very complicated but cutting across all tribes and religious differences,” he said.
He, however, observed that the masses of the Nigerian people have a clearer understanding of right and wrong. “The masses don’t have that problem,” he said
According to him, a new tribe of Nigerians who would not compromise their values but would maintain a sense of right and wrong is now emerging.
“The man on the street is very clear, so whatever some of these elites say, we shall keep our focus on the masses who voted for us,” the Vice President said.
He said it was simply unacceptable that in the last 16 years, there is not a single federal government completed road, let alone rail.
Noting that the reason for their failure was corruption, he said the cost of projects were often inflated as people entrusted with public trust struggle to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
Osinbajo said it was the same inordinate desire for enrichment that explains why money meant to procure arms were being distributed among persons at a time when the territorial integrity of the nation was being attacked.
“The insurgency has gone on for six years because government could not adequately equip the military,” he said
But the Vice President assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari will not relent, adding that we have no other agenda but ”the progress of this country”.
Osinbajo added: “Mr. President and I are extremely focussed on what we need to do. We will focus on critical things, infrastructure and social investments.”
The leader of the delegation from the Moslem Congress of Nigeria, Imam Abdulahi Shuaib expressed readiness to assist government where necessary.
“We are thankful that our candidates of choice in the election emerged,” he said, adding that the choice of the President and the Vice President was made by God during last year’s presidential election.
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