Anyone Stealing Under Buhari Is Doing So Quietly — Amaechi

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, says anyone stealing public funds under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing so “quietly”.

In an interview with Daily Trust, Amaechi said no individual can steal public funds openly under Buhari.

The minister said anyone who is caught stealing in Buhari’s government will face the consequences.

According to him, the current administration has managed the country’s resources better than previous administrations.

“I want Nigerians to be honest; can you openly take money from this government? I am not saying whether we are corrupt or not,” he said.

“Let us assume we are corrupt, can you openly take money from this government? In the past governments, what happened? You can take money in the streets.

“Corruption was so pervasive that nobody was talking about it. It was not hidden that people completely and openly displayed their wealth.

“Most of those who did that had nothing to do to show for it. They did not have a carpentry shop, but they were billionaires. They did not hide it; but here, if you are stealing, it is done quietly. I am not saying it is good, it is a sin punishable.

“In the previous government you could steal and you won’t be caught. If you were caught, there won’t be consequences. But in this government, if you steal there are consequences.”

The two-term governor of Rivers also said the high wave of insecurity as a result of hardship may affect the nation’s capital.

He said, “What the president is saying is: let us create infrastructure. The president would ask how we feel when we get to Cape Town. You will be ashamed being a Nigerian because the political elites have burnt our resources and are not able to put infrastructures on the ground.

“The only thing you will hear of Nigeria is that you should come to Abuja; that it is a fine city. But Abuja does not feed anybody. If we are not careful, we will be chased out of Abuja.

“In the past, when I was the speaker and later, governor, I said we would wake up one day and the young boys we deprived would chase us out of town. How many big men are still living in their states? They have all run away. “Everybody is here in Abuja, which is protected because the president is here. One day, the boys will be courageous and we will be on the run.

“If we don’t follow what the president is saying by not only diversifying the economy but also putting the necessary infrastructures in place, there will be no need to stay together as Nigerians.

“People are saying that secession is the problem, but it is not. There are two reasons for secession —economic deprivation and injustice. Did the injustice start from this government? I was there, so we need to address it.

“The North has people who are deprived, just as the South is also deprived, as well as the westerners and easterners. I pray to the Nigerian elite that are leading this crisis of insurrection to be careful because the day the poor people of these regions come together as a people, all of us will run. They can try as much as possible to divide the country, but the day the poor men come together, we will run.”

– The Nigeria Lawyers