By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, has said that his administration would definitely revisit the issue of the $20 billion that allegedly got missing from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Buhari said the Jonathan Administration turned a deaf ear over the missing money when it was raised by a former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano.
The president-elect, who spoke in Hausa while addressing a delegation of Adamawa state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who paid him a congratulatory visit yesterday in Abuja, regretted that the government hurriedly sacked the CBN governor instead of investigating the missing fund.
He said: “I heard that some people have started returning money; I will not believe it until I go and see for myself. Imagine a situation where the former CBN governor who, by God’s grace, would later become the Emir of Kano, raised an issue of missing billions of money, not in naira, but in dollars, $20 billion.
“What ? Instead of investigating to know whether it was true that the money was missing or not, they simply found a reason to remove him. So, these are the issues we are talking about.
“This issue is not over yet. Once we assume office, we will order a fresh probe on the matter. We will not allow people to steal money meant for Nigerians to buy shares and stash away in foreign lands.”
Buhari, who accused the PDP of bastardising the Nigerian military, also recalled the lofty feats achieved by the Nigerian Army in foreign lands, wondering why it had been very difficult for it to curb the menace of Boko Haram in the North-east.
He said: “I said it earlier, all the religions we practise – both Islam and Christianity – do not support terrorism. So, to go and kill people either in the mosque or in a church, market, motor park or to go and slaughter children in school, anyone who commits such a crime either does not know what Allahu Akbar (God is Great) means or does not believe in it. That is terrorism. It is our hope that God gives us the power to end this.
“Because of the (Boko Haram) crisis some of our fellow Nigerians from the North-east don’t know where their parents are. Some don’t know where their children are. Their houses have been burnt, also their cities like Bama, Michika, Mubi, Madagali and the rest of them.
“I urge you to be patient and ensure that anything that will benefit our nation receives your support. We will try our possible best and ensure that we repair hospitals, schools, and roads and ensure that we get drugs in our hospitals, books and other equipment.”
He assured that his government would do its best to tackle the problem.
“On the issue of unemployment that you talked about, I went to 35 out of the 36 states of the federation. I went to some states about six times. I went for town hall meetings in Kano, Lagos and here in Abuja. I met with religious leaders in churches of all denominations; everybody is involved.
“But one of the things we can use to fight poverty in Adamawa is the abundance of arable land that you have. Where I come from (Katsina state), the Sahara (desert) has eaten into the land and our populace that was not opportune to get a formal education became private guards because there is no more land to farm. But for you in Adamawa, you are blessed with land and water for agriculture.
“Because of that, within the next four years, we will do our best.”
The Adamawa state Governor-elect, Senator Jibrilla Bindow, who led the delegation, had earlier congratulated the president-elect and tasked him on infrastructure, insecurity and youth unemployment once he was sworn in.
