President Muhammadu Buhari, Saturday, said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that the judiciary remained his main headache in the fight against corruption.
According to him, corruption is so pervasive in the country that it requires the strong support of the judiciary to effectively fight.
This was even as he showed his anger to the tribal claims and theft of oil by some individuals in the Niger Delta.
The President, who stated that he needed the support of the judiciary to win the anti-graft war, recalled that corruption in the judiciary stalled his presidential ambition for years.
He also promised to overhaul the country’s judicial system.
President Buhari, who spoke at a town hall meeting with Nigerians living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday, said: “On the fight against corruption vis-à-vis the judiciary, Nigerians will be right to say that is my main headache for now.
“If you reflect on what I went through for 12 years when I wanted to be the President, I attempted three times and on the fourth attempt through God and the use of technology, it was possible for Nigerians to elect an APC candidate as President.
“In my first attempt in 2003, I ended up at the Supreme Court and for 13 months I was in court. The second attempt in 2007, I was in court close to 20 months and in 2011, my third attempt, I was also in court for nine months.
“All these cases went up to the Supreme Court until the fourth time in 2015, when God agreed that I will be President of Nigeria.”
President Buhari, while defending the N6.077 trillion 2016 budget, which is now before the National Assembly, also stated that the budget would be financed from non-oil revenue.
Buhari orders review of railway projects
A statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, from Addis Ababa added that President Buhari had ordered a review of several railway transport projects signed by the previous administration with the Chinese government.
This, according to the statement, is to boost urban development and social infrastructure.
Adesina added that the President, who regretted that the previous agreement with Chinese government did not yield any positive results, had, however, directed the Ministers of Transportation, Finance, Power, Works and Housing to revisit the agreements and explore ways of re-approaching the Chinese government for assistance.
He said the Chinese government had indicated interest to assist Nigeria on project financing through its Export-Import Bank.
He said: “The Chinese government was very generous to Nigeria on the projects signed with the previous government because they agreed to pay 85 per cent of the project. But the Nigerian government was unable to meet up with its counterpart funding of 15 per cent, so the Chinese government was unable to make any impact on the project.”
