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| Vice President Osinbajo |
The Buhari administration has reached out to the U.S.
government to increase its assistance in ensuring that corrupt officials do not
get a safe haven abroad for their loot, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said on
Monday.
The Vice President, who said this during the visit of a U.S.
Congressional Delegation to the Presidential Villa, said both countries were
working on a prompt repatriation of the funds.
According to Prof. Osinbajo, “we have reached out to the US
government with respect to helping with repatriation of proceeds of crime and
proceeds of corruption.”
Osinbajo, who was appreciative of the support given by the
U.S. so far, said the Buhari administration regarded “corruption is an
existential threat’’ that must be dealt with at its root.
“We have worked quite closely with the U.S. government on
repatriation of funds. We have seen some results,” he said, adding that the
Federal Government expected more improvement in the process.
He noted that what tended to happen with corrupt public officials
was that if they were able to find a safe haven for the proceeds of their
criminality they continued with the crime.
Osinbajo stated that there was the general feeling that “if
I am able to get the proceeds out of the country I might just get away with it.
“This is one of the reasons we have taken several actions to
ensure that we are able to deal with ii because some of the major dislocations
in the economy are on account of the problems that we have seen with
corruption.”
He said the Buhari presidency’s strategy, which is one of
“the most effective ways of fighting corruption is ensuring that these proceeds
are unsafe.”
He added that the strategy was for people to know that they
would be found out and would be punished for it “and we would seize whatever
profit they had gained.”
On the return of the Chibok girls, the Vice President said,
“it is a front burner issue for us all the time, there is no question of not
continuing to negotiate and looking for the girls.”
He expressed gratitude to God for the hope that the girls
are still alive and would be released.
The Vice President noted that “negotiations were continuing
and government would keep looking for the opportunity to bring them back.”
The Vice President thanked the U.S. government for its
recent decision to sell Super Tucano aircraft to Nigeria to aid its fight
against insurgency in the North-East.
Sen. Christopher Coons, who led the delegation, said the
visit was to reaffirm the relationship between Nigeria and the U.S., noting that
the U.S. had “an enduring enthusiasm and partnership with Nigeria.”
Other members of the Congressional delegation include
Senators Gary Peters, Jeff Merkley, Michael Bennet, Reps Lisa Blunt Rochester,
Terri Sewell, Charlie Dent, Barbara Lee and Frederica Wilson.
The delegation was accompanied by the U.S. Ambassador to
Nigeria, Stuart Symington.
Also in attendance were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr.
Geoffery Onyeama, Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, the National
Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Babgana Monguno, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air
Marshal Sadique Abubakar.
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