Kola Ologbondiyan, spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign, has revealed how Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate, plans to tackle corruption.
Speaking during a chat with Arise News TV on Tuesday, Ologbondiyan said Atiku will fight corruption by asking politicians to return stolen funds.
Corruption in public offices is rife and remains a major issue confronting Nigeria, with many saying it’s stunted the development of the country.
Earlier this year, Ahmed Idris was suspended from his role as the country’s accountant-general over the allegation of N80 billion fraud.
The latest is the forfeiture of properties of Diezani Madueke, former petroleum minister, reportedly valued at over $2.5 million.
The properties were seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over a prolonged case of mismanagement of public funds.
Asked how the PDP candidate will tackle corruption if elected, Ologbondiyan assured Nigerians that Atiku would “bring down corruption in our national life” by telling affected politicians to “please just bring back the funds”.
Ologbondiyan added that the same tactic was used to recover stolen funds when Atiku was the vice president of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, under the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
“I want to assure Nigerians that when elected into office in 2023, Atiku has said that he will bring down corruption in our national life. He has even gone to extent of saying that when we catch you on purposes of corruption and malfeasance, we will call you back and say please just bring back the funds,” the PDP campaign spokesperson said.
“He also referred to that experience under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and said people who stole money were brought back and they were shown reports and asked to bring back the stolen money. I cannot remember the sum that he said was recovered in that administration. But most certainly, money was recovered.”