Corruption, lies and Goodluck Jonathan

After a week of global scathing criticisms of a recent presidential pardon of former Bayelsa state Gov. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was impeached and later convicted in Nigeria for money laundering, President Goodluck at the summit Tuesday had this to say:

''Corruption and issues of good Governance are also being vigorously tackled on all fronts. Nigeria was one of the first signatories to the Inter-governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA), and I recently signed the Anti-Money Laundering Act into law. The three tiers of government now meet regularly to review and appraise progress and strategy. The recent dismissal of three judges found to have compromised their offices is a unmistakable signal of zero tolerance for corruption in the judiciary.''

''We have reformed the hitherto corrupt fertilizer distribution programme into an electronic-wallet scheme, which now reaches each farmer directly, guaranteeing greater efficient in the delivery of inputs, in line with global best practices. Our investigation into corrupt practices in the fuel subsidy scheme has led to the recovery of large sums of money, and prosecution of suspected culprits'' 

''Through the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the problem of “ghost workers” in the public service has been significantly reduced and over 100 billion naira ($630 million) saved in past year alone.'' 

''Let me reiterate here, clearly and unequivocally that my administration is firmly committed to the fight against corruption, and the recovery of ill gotten wealth. We shall never relent in this undertaking.''