Nigerian looters and corrupt politicians should cower in fear as International Monetary Fund has pledged to expose all the looters.
IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde
The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, said on Tuesday in Abuja that the organisation was willing to assist the Federal Government of Nigeria in plugging revenue leakages, tracing stolen funds and restructuring the tax system.
Lagarde, who is in the country on a four-day working visit, reportedly said this during a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa. According to a special release by the President’s Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina on his Facebook page, Lagarde is quoted as saying that the IMF will do all it can to help Nigeria recover stolen funds by tracing and exposing the looters.
According to Adesina, the president is quoted as saying: "We have just come out of budget discussions after many weeks of taking into consideration the many needs of the country, and the down turn of the economy with falling oil prices and the negative economic forecasts.
"We are working very hard and with the budget as our way forward, we will do our best to ensure that our country survives the current economic downturn.
"We have also told all heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government that on our watch, they will fully account for all funds that get into their coffers," President Buhari told Ms Lagarde.
The President said that the Federal Government was reviewing its operational costs and had directed all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies to cut down on their overhead costs.
President Buhari said the Federal Government will welcome the technical support and expertise of the IMF for its plans to diversify the Nigerian economy and further unleash its growth potentials.
In her remarks, Ms Lagarde said that the IMF will be willing to assist the Federal Government in plugging revenue leakages, tracing stolen funds and restructuring its tax system. She said that Nigeria had all the potentials to overcome the current economic challenge of falling commodity prices without resorting to the IMF for financial support.