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Minister of Information, Alhaji Mohammed revealed on Monday that a total of N1.34 trillion was stolen in Nigeria between 2006 and 2013 by 55 people.
The minister made the revelation on Monday while kick-starting the National Sensitization Campaign Against Corruption at a press conference in Abuja.
His words:
”Out of the stolen funds, 15 former Governors allegedly stole 146.84 billion naira; 4 former Ministers allegedly stole 7 billion naira; 12 former Public Servants, both at federal and state levels, allegedly stole over 14 billion Naira; 8 people in the Banking Industry allegedly stole 524 billion Naira; while 11 businessmen allegedly stole 653 billion naira.
The minister appealed to the media to join hands with it in sensitizing Nigerians to the damage that corruption has done to the nation, warning that unless Nigeria kills corruption, the vice is capable of killing Nigeria.
To ensure the success of the campaign, the Minister urged the media to replicate the support they are giving to the Federal Government in its ongoing National Security Awareness Campaign
”Thanks to the support we have received from the media, especially in this (National Security) Sensitization Campaign, I can now tell you that Nigerians have taken ownership of the war against terrorism and are also giving their undiluted support to our gallant military. I commend the media for heeding our patriotic call to duty at a critical time in the life of our nation.
”Gentlemen, we are here today because of another patriotic call to duty. We want the media to once again lead the campaign to sensitize Nigerians to take possession of another war – the war against corruption,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed stressed the need to change the narrative on corruption, especially what he described as the wrong impression out there that the war against corruption is being fought only by the President or the Federal Government or the governing All Progressive Congress (APC), or the orchestrated misinformation that the war against corruption is a vendetta against the opposition, and that indeed it is one-sided.