×

London Anti-Corruption Summit Opens

The United Kingdom (UK) is hosting world leaders, business executives and civil society in an Anti-Corruption Summit to agree a package of practical steps to expose … Continue reading London Anti-Corruption Summit Opens


Muhammadu-Buhari-Uk-Anti-corruption-summitThe United Kingdom (UK) is hosting world leaders, business executives and civil society in an Anti-Corruption Summit to agree a package of practical steps to expose corruption and also ensure adequate punishment for perpetrators.

Most leaders at the Summit will come from nations that are battling corruption.

In his speech announcing the summit, Prime Minister David Cameron described corruption as ‘one of the greatest enemies of progress in our time’.

Ahead of the Summit, Mr Cameron was caught on camera telling Queen Elizabeth that the UK would be greeting some leaders of ‘fantastically corrupt’ countries in the world, citing Nigerian and Afghanistan as part of that category.

Cameron’s statement had drawn reactions from Nigeria and other nations ahead of the Summit, where world leaders would seek to galvanise a global response to tackle corruption and also deal with issues including corporate secrecy, government transparency, the enforcement of international anti-corruption laws and the strengthening of international institutions.

Drive Out Corruption

It is the first Summit of its kind, bringing together world leaders, business executives and civil society to agree a package of practical steps to expose corruption so there is nowhere to hide, punish the perpetrators, support those affected by corruption and drive out the culture of corruption wherever it exists.

At a pre-Summit conference on Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria said he would not demand an apology from Mr Cameron for the statement but would want a fast repatriation of stolen funds in the UK.

President Buhari and other leaders are expected to push for faster repatriation of stolen funds in the UK and other nations.

Nigeria also expects that the Summit would come up with a declaration that will make it faster to repatriate all stolen funds back to their countries of origin.

The Acting High Commissioner of Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Mr Simon Orga, said on Tuesday that the declaration would remove all obstacles and bottlenecks that had impeded the repatriation of such funds.

Agreement will also be reached on the repatriation or extradition of persons that had looted their nation’s funds to ensure they faced trial.

Mr Orga expressed optimism that the summit would remove all impediments to the efforts of the Nigerian President to get all stolen money in the UK repatriated.

“At the end of the conference there will be a declaration and it will focus on all stolen wealth that are in the UK to have them repatriated.

“It will be faster to facilitate the repatriation of the assets that are abroad and even the people behind it, leaving abroad could be extradited to Nigeria.

“It has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria and many world leaders already know the implication of fighting corruption and that is why they have conveyed the summit,” he told Channels Television’s correspondent, Chukwuma Onuekwusi.

The Nigerian government had on Wednesday responded to Mr Cameron’s statement, saying he must be referring the Nigeria’s past and that the statement did not represent the efforts of the Buhari-led administration in the fight against corruption.