Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has expressed support for President Buhari's effort at tackling corruption, saying graft remains Nigeria's biggest impediment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking as a guest lecturer at the 2015 Holts Lecture of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, United States on September 30th, imediate past Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has expressed support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s effort at tackling corruption, saying graft remains Nigeria’s biggest impediment to achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Okonjo-Iweala said the president was confronting corruption 'head on' and was setting the example that would directly help root out corruption in other sectors of the government.
"The new president of the country who is just taking office has made it the central plan of his administration to fight corruption to root it out, and he sets about restructuring some of the key agencies where things are happening, setting example.
"I think with that when you see example in one place, it sends the message about what should happen in other places. I think this is being confronted head on. And I think and hope that with what is going on and what we tried to do in the previous administration, bringing more transparency to way of doing business."
Okonjo-Iweala also commented on Mr. Buhari assigning the petroleum ministry to himself.
"I think the president has the prerogative to do a lot of things, and this is not the first time in our country. President Obasanjo was also the president of Petroleum Resources in his time. I am not saying this is the best way or best practice but I am just saying for our circumstances it is not the first time.
"If that will bring more clarity, more openness, more transparency to the way the oil sector is done no problem, it’s ok. But if it will not, we have to ask questions," she said.