President Muhammadu Buhari has blamed the winning of elections by corrupt politicians on the forgetfulness of Nigerians, which should not happen in saner climes.
Buhari said this on Friday in an interview with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) monitored by this newspaper.
Even though the President has always reiterated his determination to fight corruption, he said democracy has kept paving way for corrupt officials to seek political positions.
Buhari said:
“When I was a bit younger, in uniform, when I came, I arrested president, vice-president, governors, ministers, commissioners, and put them under restriction or detention, and told them they are guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. Now, this is opposite – democratic system, as people would like to believe.
“We put investigation panels, virtually based on the present geopolitical zones. For those who held positions and because it was a law for people to declare their assets when they become governors or ministers or commissioners or head of security agencies, they were investigated. Those that cannot explain the extra resources they have in terms of assets and in the banks were asked to surrender. Eventually, I was arrested and detained, and they were given back their loot. So, this is Nigeria.
“Nigerians, I think, are very forgetful. I’m very pleased that the majority of Nigerians think that this administration, under the circumstances, are doing their best. But people who misappropriated funds, a lot of them were elected members whether at the state or federal level. And their base still values them.
“You can accuse them or even try to prove that when they were elected or in ministries, that they had only one house, but now they have several in Abuja or Lagos. Really, if you try to work out their legitimate salaries, vis-à-vis their expenditure, you will be embarrassed.”