ABUJA | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday decreed "the state of emergency against corruption", ordering that ill-gotten property be frozen in Nigeria.
The head of state revealed that public funds allegedly stolen by people currently tried or investigated amounted to $ 1.6 billion (1.4 billion euros), amounts that would allow to fund very useful government projects in the country.
By signing a decree-law to restrict transactions involving suspicious property, Buhari reiterated that "if Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria sooner or later."
The new Legislative Decree to Combat Illicit Activities, which allows for the sale of assets derived from criminal activities, is an effective means of fighting corruption and its effects, he added.
"As a result, the government has declared a state of emergency to deal with this crisis," added the president.
The Nigerian government is stepping up efforts in the fight against corruption in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election.
75-year-old President Buhari is seeking a second four-year term as head of Africa's largest oil producer, who is struggling to recover from a severe economic downturn due to falling prices.
The fight against corruption, one of his main campaign promises in 2015, was welcomed at the beginning of his term, but many voices have since risen to denounce a political witch hunt.
The country has been receiving billions of dollars selling oil and gas for decades, but most of its 180 million people live in poverty.
Mr. Buhari attributes this situation to corruption and believes that the money could have been used by the state to improve education, create jobs and build roads. It is committed to recovering public money stolen by officials of previous governments and to being transparent in these cases.
Among the measures taken by his government are anti-fraud actions in banks and actions against tax evasion.
But critics have accused him of political witch-hunt, with most of the people targeted by these measures or tried by the courts being opponents.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://z22news.com/nigeria-state-of-emergency-against-corruption/