The British Prime Minister was yesterday caught on camera calling Nigeria a ‘Fantastically corrupt’ country.
He has come under a lot of pressure because of the statement dividing opinion on how such comments should be perceived. The UK’s own Guardian printed that Cameron and Britain as a whole were hypocrites seeing as a lot of the laundered money came into the UK and was spent in the UK.
President Buhari’s response was a bit more tempered.
On Wednesday at a meeting hosted by Commonwealth ahead of the anti-corruption summit in London, he stated that he didn’t need Cameron’s apology and that he had his focus elsewhere.
He said “I’m not going to demand any apology. All I demand is a return of assets. What would I do with apology?” the president asked.
“I have already mentioned how disgraceful one of the Nigerian executive dressed as a woman to leave Britain, leaving behind his bank account and fixed asset, which Britain is prepared to hand over to us, this is what I’m asking for. What will I do with apology? I need something tangible.”
“Corruption is a hydra headed monster. It does not differentiate between developed and developing countries. It constitutes a serious threat to good governance, rule of law, peace and security as well as well as development programmes aimed at tackling poverty and economic backwardness,” he said.
“This consideration informed my decision to attend this event as well as the anti-corruption summit organised by Prime Minister David Cameron that will be held tomorrow.
“Tackling the menace of corruption is not an easy task, but it is possible even if many feathers have to be ruffled.”