Buhari has been kind, he needs to be tougher – Useni sends strong message to PMB

– Senator Useni says he supports the return of fund by suspected corrupt officials

– He said the suspects should however still face trial

– He urged the president to be tougher in fighting corruption

Lt. Gen. Jeremiah Useni (retd) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take a tougher stance against corruption as he his perceived as too lenient.

The senator representing Plateau south urged Nigerians to support and pray for President Buhari to succeed in his war on corruption.

The Punch reports that Useni who was a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory during the regime of the late Gen. Sani Abacha, said the president has been too kind.

READ ALSO: What has become of Abacha’s loot?

He said: “Those who say Buhari is tough, I don’t know what they actually mean, but in my own opinion, Buhari should be tougher. We heard one individual returned about N3bn. I think that person should be dealt with severely. So, Buhari has been too kind for allowing those kinds of people to be roaming the streets; it shouldn’t happen at all. We should pray for this man, for God to give him tougher mind, not softer one. We have been doing so many silly things for years and we can’t continue like that.”

He said he hopes the war on corruption will be extended to previous regime. He said he supported the idea of suspects returning money secretly but said they should still be tried.

“I think they (people who returned money secretly) will be tried, though they have not been tried yet. I think what the government is trying to do is to say if you know you have stolen money or if you are given a contract that is paid for and the contract is not executed, return the money before we investigate you. Some of them have returned it. Some complete amount, maybe the level of the charge will be different. However, if after investigating the whole thing the government finds out that what you have returned is not up to half of what you have collected, then it is going to be a more serious case. So, those who have returned money shouldn’t think that everything is over yet.”

READ ALSO: Court demands government to disclose recovered stolen funds

On whether the president was too slow, Useni replied: “Too slow, in what?  Too slow in not executing people? You see, when you are talking about so many problems, it takes time to try and put it right, especially in Nigeria, when you are trying to put things right, new ones are coming up. Awolowo once said, as a commissioner under Gowon, that there was going to be a probe.

“New logs have fallen on top of old ones. To get to the old ones, you have to remove the new ones first. So, the new ones are Jonathan’s people.”

The former minister caused a stir a month ago when he said that the present anti-corruption crusade of President Buhari will be extended to the administration of the ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo.

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