It is impossible for there not to be corruption – Osinbajo to lawmakers
It is impossible for there not to be corruption – Osinbajo to lawmakers
Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo has said there is bound to be corruption but called on
political leaders in the country to commit themselves to changing the
ways things are done in Nigeria for good.
Osinbajo
made this known on Thursday, March 23, when he met with a delegation of
lawmakers from the House of Representatives in his office to discuss
the economy and particularly possible ways of navigating Nigeria out of
recession.
According to a report on
Premium Times, the federal legislators who visited Osinbajo are members
of the Tactical Committee on Recession from the House of Representatives
and were led by Committee Chairman, Bode Ayorinde.
Osinbajo says it is impossible for there not to be corruption
It was gathered that the Budget and National Planning Minister, Udoma Udoma, was also at the meeting.
Speaking
on the need for political leaders to use their positions and the
leadership opportunity to effect changes that would benefit the
citizenry, Osinbajo said leadership was a call to service.
According to him, “How
many people will get this kind of opportunity we have to lead? The
opportunity to serve is one that must be taken seriously and used for
the common good.”
Addressing the bane of corruption, and its attendant abnormality in matters of development, Osinbajo said: “It is in our interest to deal with corruption, this is not moralising, it is an existential threat, it a survival issue.’’
He added: “We need to address the fundamentals of that abnormality. If we do not address it, no matter what we say, things won’t work.
“I
think it is very important, especially for us who are in government
today either as legislature or executive. We have to address this issue,
it is a fundamental issue; everywhere in the world, even where they do
not have the problems we have, they are addressing the issue.
“So we must address it and, it
is everywhere; look at foreign exchange and you can identify the
problems, you fix the rate of foreign exchange at the rate it is and you
know what the black market is, look at the arbitrage which is so large;
there is bound to be corruption, it is impossible for there not to be
corruption.”
But he offered hope that the monetary and fiscal policies are being aligned, adding also that “we are constantly in discussion with the CBN, discussing on how to reduce interest rates.’’
In
response to issues of revenue allocation raised by the visiting
legislators, Osinbajo noted that emphasis must shift from ‘sharing’ to
generating more revenue internally, including in the states.
