President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday agreed with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, that Nigeria “is a fantastically corrupt” country.
Buhari spoke briefly with Sky News’ Diplomatic Editor, Dominic Waghorn, after he delivered his keynote address at the Commonwealth event tagged, “Tackling corruption together: A conference for civil society, business and government leaders,” held at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London.
The brief interaction took place as Buhari was making his way out of the venue alongside some dignitaries. According to a video of the interaction posted on the news medium’s website and monitored by one of our correspondents, the President also told his interviewer that he was not embarrassed by Cameron’s statement.
The following discussion ensued:
Waghorn: Will you like an apology from the Prime Minister?
Buhari: No, no. Not at all.
Waghorn: Are you embarrassed by what he (Cameron) said?
Buhari: No, I’m not.
Waghorn: Is Nigeria fantastically corrupt?
Buhari: Yes.
Buhari had earlier on Wednesday said he would not demand an apology from Cameron for describing Nigeria as a “fantastically corrupt” country.
Rather, Buhari who is currently in London for an anti-corruption summit, said all he would demand from Cameron was the return of Nigeria’s stolen assets.
The President spoke while answering questions after he delivered his keynote address at the Commonwealth event in London.
He made reference to a former governor of Bayelsa State, the late Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was accused of jumping bail in UK in 2005.
He said Britain was prepared to return the former governor’s assets to Nigeria.
“I am not going to be demanding any apology from anybody. What I will be demanding is the return of assets. I have already mentioned how disgraceful one of Nigeria’s executives was. He had to dress like a woman to leave Britain and left behind his bank account and fixed assets which Britain is prepared to hand over to us.
“This is what I am asking for. What will I do with an apology? I need something tangible,” Buhari said amidst laughter from participants.
Alamieyeseigha was alleged to have, on November 22, 2005, dressed like a woman and used forged passport to jump bail in Britain where he was being investigated for allegedly laundering £1.8m.
The former governor was arrested at Heathrow Airport in September, 2005, while he was a sitting governor in the oil-rich Bayelsa State and his passport confiscated.
He faced three counts of money laundering after police found £1m in cash at his London address and property in his name worth £10m.
He sneaked back to Nigeria, forfeiting a £1.25m bail bond.
Alamieyeseigha died in October, 2015, at the age of 63 at a time the present administration was said to be planning to extradite him to the UK to face his money laundering charges.
Meanwhile, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said Buhari’s utterances outside Nigeria were the reasons Cameron described Nigeria as “fantastically corrupt.”
He said the President should apologise to Nigerians for denigrating them and the country.
He added, “What do you expect from the international community when the President of a nation keeps going abroad to say that his people are corrupt.”
“When a President mounts the podium in foreign lands and gleefully says that his own people are criminals, that they are corrupt and that those abroad should be sent back home, why won’t presidents of other countries brand all citizens of such a country as fantastically corrupt?”