Senate to partner Buhari on anti-graft war, says Wakili

A SENATOR representing Bauchi South at the National Assembly, Ali Wakili, has given assurance that the Senate is committed to partnering President Muhammadu Buhari to fight corruption in the country.

Wakili, who spoke during an interview with newsmen in Bauchi yesterday, lamented that corruption has retarded the economic growth of the country, adding that members of the Senate under the leadership of Bukola Saraki had already swung into action to address the problem.

He said: “Our body language and proceedings are enough to indicate that we are very serious in line with the All Progressives Congress (APC) policy of fighting corruption. The President himself has shown his willingness to lead the fight against corruption.

“We spoke excessively on the floor of the Senate on the issue of waivers, how Nigerians were shortchanged over N32 billion and some of us attributed that issue to corruption and we requested agencies involved from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Nigerian Customs Services and other regulatory agencies to investigate.

“We are fighting corruption, the issue of electricity billings and other things on which we disagree; so we are very determined.”

The senator noted that there are extant laws agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Police Force with powers and tools to fight corruption.

“We are expecting that if the Presidency feels that some of these rules and regulations and laws are inadequate, we await the President to bring about these things so that we can give him the legal backing to ensure we fight this cankerworm of corruption that is holding our country to ransom. So, we at the Senate, we are very determined”, Wakili said.

The senator, who condemned critics who had been accusing Buhari of being selective in the anti-corruption crusade so far, said: “For anybody to impute discrimination in the issue of the fight against corruption is just being clever by half. After all, if you are saying that it’s only those in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that are being pursued, they are the ones that had the reign of government for over 16 years.”