President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday that the anti-corruption campaign of his administration is a fight for the soul and substance of the nation.
He stated that corruption is so endemic in the country that it constituted a parallel system, noting that it was the reason for poor policy choices, waste and bare-faced theft of public resources.
The president said this in his goodwill message to the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Nigeria in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the president said graft had been cited as the main reason for the prevalence of poverty in the midst of plenty and waste of resources in the country, a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Vice President, Laolu Akande, read.
Buhari said, “Corruption in our country is so endemic that it constitutes a parallel system. It is the primary reason for poor policy choices, waste and of course bare- faced theft of public resources.
“Our fight against corruption is not just a moral battle for virtue and righteousness in our land, it is a fight for the soul and substance of our nation”.
Giving an insight into the way corruption destroys the nation, Buhari told the Second Plenary of the Conference that “it is the main reason why a potentially prosperous country struggles to feed itself and provide jobs for millions”.
He also attributed infant and maternal mortality, and deaths from preventable diseases to the greed and corruption of a few.
