President Muhammadu Buhari, said his administration has eradicated corruption in all facets as part of the wins of his government.
The President in his Independence Day speech on Saturday said one of the areas where his administration has made significant progress is in the eradication of deeply entrenched corruption that permeates all facets of national development.
He noted that his government has strengthened the institutions for tackling corruption and also cultivated international support, which aided the repatriation of huge sums of money illegally kept outside the country.
He furthered that his administration would continue to block opportunities that encourage corrupt practices, as the increasing number of prosecutions and convictions, with associated refunds of large sums of money, is still ongoing.
Speaking on economic growth, President Buhari explained that the government of the day will continue to ensure that the nation’s infrastructure drive remains the key to economic growth and for which every Nigerian will feel the impact.
He said that his government have also continued to accelerate infrastructure development through serviceable and transparent borrowing, improved capital inflow and increased revenue generation.
The President said he could achieve all by expanding the tax bases and prudent management of investment proceeds in the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
“The Federal Government is already expanding ports operations to ensure that they provide opportunities for the growth of the Nigerian economy.”
“To further open up our communities to economic activities, we have continued to boost our railway infrastructure with the completion of a good number of critical railways and at the same time rehabilitating as well as upgrading obsolete equipment,” he added.
The president explained that besides the emphasis on infrastructural development with its attendant opportunities for job creation, employment generation and subsequent poverty reduction, the focused intervention directly to Nigerians through the National Social Investment Programme is also yielding benefits.
“There is hardly any ward, village or local government in Nigeria today that has not benefited from one of the following: N-Power, trader-moni, market moni, subsidized loans, business grants or Conditional Cash Transfers, ” he continued.
President Buhari stated that all aforementioned programmes along with various interventions by the National Social Investment Programme, direct support to victims of flooding and other forms of disasters have provided succour to the affected Nigerians.
Reforms in the public sector he explained, are already yielding results, especially in the delivery of services, therefore the general public should demand citizen-centred services from the relevant authorities.
“On the international front, we have continued to take advantage of our bilateral and multilateral platforms to explore cooperation with friendly countries and partners whenever these areas of cooperation are to the advantage of Nigeria,” Buhari noted.
