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Move against graft suspects lawful, says SGF

By Karls Tsokar, Abuja
27 January 2016   |   2:47 am
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has said that the ongoing move against political office holders accused of corruption and abuse of public trust is within constitutionally authorized limits.
Lawal

Lawal

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, has said that the ongoing move against political office holders accused of corruption and abuse of public trust is within constitutionally authorized limits.

Lawal, who spoke yesterday when he received the national executives of the Nigeria Union of Journalist (NUJ) in his office, noted that the fight against corruption is one leg of the tripod on which the President Muhammadu Buhari administration stands.

“The current administration must be examined dispassionately to see whether or not it is selective or whether innocent citizens are being harassed or not.

“The fight against corruption is now going on with vigour. For the first time, since our return to democracy 16 years ago, top public officials found to have betrayed public trust are being asked to account for their actions. They are being investigated and prosecuted within the confines of the Nigerian laws,” the SGF said..

While reiterating that the media organisations have a major role to play in ensuring that the government achieves its key objectives of securing the nation, fighting against corruption and restoring the economy, Lawal said the challenges of the ailing economy were also being adequately addressed in the 2016 budget proposal before the National Assembly as the allocation to capital projects for the first time reached the 30 percent threshold. “While overhead costs have been reduced reasonably, sizeable allocations have been proposed for the development of infrastructure, such as power, roads and railways.”

According to Lawal, the media has the major role to play in putting Nigeria back on track, by informing the public of the efforts of government to sanitise the Nigerian polity of the impunity and retrogressive antics that threaten the development of the nation. “This is because there are powerful forces in our society who will use the media to discredit the government in order to achieve selfish interests. A major case in point is the fight against corruption that some have described as selective.”

National President of the NUJ, Comrade Abdulwaheed Odusile, who led the delegation commended the efforts of the government in the anti-graft war, saying they should not be deterred by criticisms, but make it as transparent as possible, devoid of politics as well as strike a balance between the fight and the rule of law, in line with democratic tenets.

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