The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has reacted to Transparency International’s recent report which ranked Nigeria 146 out of 180 corrupt countries, with a total of 26 points out of a possible 100 points.
In an interview with some international media organisations in London, the Minister stated that the Federal Government is not fighting corruption to impress Transparency International but to develop the country. He added that they are already winning the fight.
Lai Mohammed said;
“In any event, we are not fighting corruption because we want to impress any organisation. We are fighting corruption because we believed that without fighting the menace, the much-sought development will not happen and we have results to show for fighting corruption.
“We have put in place policies and legislation that have tamed the monster called corruption. For instance, apart from the TSA which has saved us billions of Naira, we put in place transparency portal which enables every Nigerians to see how much is being spent by government every day.
“Under the transparency portal regulation, any expenditure above N5 billion must be reported and that gives every Nigerian the opportunity to know exactly what is going on.
“We will continue to fight corruption and we know that we are winning the war.”
On alleged selective prosecution in the anti-corruption fight, Lai Mohammed said;
“How do you say that when serving senators and past governors who were members of the ruling party are now serving jail terms?”
