on Friday may be assumed to be connected with President Muhammadu Buhari's
efforts towards recovering stolen oil funds, the Presidency has said.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba
Shehu, stated this in a telephone chat with our correspondent on Friday night.
The presidential aide, however, noted that he had no information yet on the arrest of the
immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Diezani, alongside four other people, was reportedly arrested in London on Friday
morning by the United Kingdom National Crimes Agency, for crimes related to bribery,
corruption and money laundering.
Asked whether the former minister's arrest had to do with Buhari's moves to prosecute
those who mismanaged oil funds, Shehu said: "It may be assumed that it has to do
with the president's efforts towards recovering stolen oil funds. If you read the
president's address in the New York during the just-concluded United Nations General
Assembly, he (Buhari) made a passionate appeal to the international community to
assist Nigeria in recovering stolen money".
Buhari had Monday while addressing world leaders at the 70th General Assembly of the
United Nations in New York called on the international community to urgently redouble
its efforts to strengthen mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of
corruption.
President Buhari had also urged world leaders to do more to return stolen funds and
assets to their countries of origin.
The president had also reaffirmed his government's determination to frontally confront
the twin evils of corruption and illicit financial outflows.
"Let me reaffirm the Nigerian government’s unwavering commitment to fight corruption
and illicit financial flows. By any consideration, corruption and cross border financial
crimes are impediments to development, economic growth, and the realization of the
well-being of citizens across the globe. Nigeria is ready and willing to partner with
international agencies and individual countries on a bilateral basis to confront crimes
and corruption.
"In particular, I call upon the global community to urgently redouble efforts towards
strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of corruption
and ensuring the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin," the
president had appealed.
Via Daily Trust
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