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Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that government will not use force to stop militancy in the Niger Delta.
A statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said Buhari made the promise when he received the United States of America’s Secretary of State, Mr John Kerry in audience at the State House.
However, the promise not to use force against the militants in the Niger Delta came with a caution.
The president said that government would resort to the use of force if constrained to do so.
Buhari said though militancy in the Niger Delta had impacted negatively on the economy and affected the positive intentions of international and local investors, government was showing restraint not to use real force, “except when constrained to do so.”
The president also pledged to make sure that the anti-corruption crusade outlived him.
Buhari said that war against corruption would be deepened and institutionalized to last beyond the life of the current administration.
He said: “We will insist on the standards we’re establishing. We are laying down administrative and financial instructions in the public service that must be obeyed. Any breach will no longer be acceptable.
“We will retrain our staff, so that they understand the new orientation. And those who run foul of these rules will be prosecuted, no matter who is involved. But we will be fair, just and act according to the rule of law. Anyone perceived corrupt is innocent till we can prove it. We will work very hard to establish documentation for successful prosecution, and those in positions of trust will sit up.”
Buhari appreciated the intervention of the U.S before the 2015 polls, demanding free and fair elections in Nigeria, saying, “America did not do it because of what it stands to benefit from us. You did it for the Nigerian people. It tells so much what the U.S stands for in the world.”
On the Boko Haram insurgency, Buhari thanked the U.S for both hard and soft military help.
He said: “The training and intelligence that we could not muster ourselves, we received. The training has made Boko Haram less of a threat to Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region, while the military hardware has given our troops added confidence.”
