By Sadiq Umar – The Federal Government on Sunday vowed to release more names of alleged public treasure looters, saying it would not be deterred threat of litigation or those it described as “hack writers”.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement said since the release of the first two lists of the alleged looters, there have been pressures on the Government to discontinuing the release of list of more looters.
According to Mr. Mohammed, “hack writers have inundated the social and traditional media with articles casting aspersion on the lists, while some newspapers have even resorted to writing editorials against the Federal Government.
“Most of the write-ups have accused the government of politicizing the anti-graft war by releasing the lists. We strongly disagree with them.
“We do not have the power to try or convict anyone. That is the exclusive preserve of the courts. But we have the power to let Nigerians know those who turned the public treasury into their personal piggy banks, on the basis of very concrete evidence, and that is what we are doing,” he said.
Mr. Mohammed said the government has always known that corruption will fight back, fast and furious, hence it is not surprised at the hiring of hack writers to attack the very idea of naming and shaming the looters, or the hysterical threats of litigation
“All the fuss about politicising the anti-corruption fight is aimed at preventing the government from releasing more looters’ names and at the same time muddling the waters.
“But 1,000 negative write-ups editorials will not deter us from releasing the third and subsequent lists. For those who have chosen to give succour to looters, we wish them the best of luck with their new pastime,” he said.
“We know where the pressure is coming from. However, the die is cast. We will not stop until we have released the names of all those who have looted our commonwealth. Those who have not looted our treasury have nothing to be afraid of,” Mr Mohammed added.
He challenged anyone who feels that he or she has been wrongly accused to seek redress in court, rather than engaging in exhibitionist sophistry.
Mohammed also reminded Nigerians that it was the PDP that dared to challenge the Federal Government into releasing the list of PDP looters, hence the argument that the list only contained the names of PDP members falls short without proper contextualization.
“We are not underestimating the desperation of the looters, but we wish to assure Nigerians who are justifiably outraged at the mindless plundering of the nation’s wealth also of our determination not back down. Nigerians must know those who have wrecked the country and mortgaged the future of their children,” Mohammed further stated.
