Retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President-Elect has outline the way he hopes to tackle corruption, plan the government’s finances, fight Boko Haram, and improve Nigeria’s economy when he eventually assumes power.
Buhari who won the 28th March presidential election, unseating an incumbent president democratically for the first time in the country’s democracy, blamed the country’s Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the financial downturn in Nigeria.
He also promised make his Ministerial appointees declare their assets to the public.
Buhari outlined the plans on Monday in an exclusive interview with SaharaTV.
“I’m afraid the Finance Minister has no cause to complain because the governors cannot force the central government to act outside the Constitution,” Buhari said, commenting on Okonjo-Iweala’s statement on the fiscal conditions and government spending in Nigeria.
“All those that were governors, ministers, permanent secretaries, head of foreign staff and all those with political appointments will have to declare their assets on the assumption of their appointment and definitely with the courts. And once they leave they have to re-declare their assets.”
As a matter of fact, Buhari pointed out that he has no plan to interfere with the judiciary and whatever action it may take pursuing corrupt public officials.
“The administration will not become embroiled in investigation every ministry, then the government will not have time to move forward,” he noted.
Buhari suggested that partisan politics in Nigeria is the cause of the severe imbalance in the country’s oil sector, promising to professionalise the oil sector when assumes office.
“The proliferation of oil fields to people who don’t even know what it is, is one of the messes partisan politics has brought,” Buhari said.
He said revitalising the mining and agriculture sector of the country would be a major means of job creation for the youths as embedded in APC’s manifesto.
On the influence of Obasanjo on him the president elect said: “I think that people have to accept the realities of Nigeria’s political development. General Olusegun Obasanjo is the only living Nigerian that led Nigeria for more than 11 years, so for anybody to think that General Obasanjo is irrelevant or he was trying to push his influence over issues, I think is being uncharitable and not being fair to Nigeria’s political development.”
Emphasising on transparency as one of the keys to good governance, Buhari said: “All those that were governors, ministers, permanent secretaries, head of foreign staff and all those with political appointments will have to declare their assets on the assumption of their appointment and definitely with the courts. And once they leave they have to re-declare their assets.”
Doing this, would ensure greater accountability among public servants, Buhari added.
