President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to commence the prosecution of looters who may have dipped their hands into the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) within the shortest time possible.
President Buhari made this commitment on Sunday at a sideline event of the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations in a meeting with Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
He said Nigeria will emulate China’s example in frowning at corruption in all its facets and dealing with corrupt individuals accordingly.
Furthermore, President Buhari expressed his country’s gratitude to the Chinese government in helping the Nigeria government fight oil theft by intercepting many vessels from Nigeria used in illegal oil bunkering.
The President also revealed his determination to sanitise the NNPC and rid it of all corrupt individuals and practices, while advocating greater cooperation between Nigeria and China in curbing cases of oil theft.
Similarly, he highlighted the monumental achievements being recorded in Nigeria’s fight against the Boko Haram terrorist sect since his coming to power, stating further that the military had been better equipped to fight the insurgents under his rule.
In his reaction, President Xi affirmed his country’s readiness to invest more in critical areas of Nigeria’s developmental needs like human capacity building, and oil and gas, while stating that there were already Chinese investments in areas such as agriculture, airways, railway, and power generation.