Buhari, Obaseki, others meet on continental fight against corruption

…as Nigeria champions session

President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and presidents of other African Union member states, have held a high-levelled meeting in New York on strategies to rid the continent of corruption.

The session with the theme: “African Union High-levelled Meeting on Winning the Fight Against Corruption: Leveraging International Cooperation to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Africa” was led by President Buhari, as the champion of the fight against corruption, who presented the key note address.

The event which was organised by the African Union Commission with Rwanda, as country of the AU Chairperson, followed an earlier Bilateral meeting by the president, in company of Governor Obaseki, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and officials of the Nigerian Embassy in the United States, with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.

Recall that president Buhari had advocated for a global effort to fight corruption, considering the negative impact it is having on countries such as illegal migration and poverty, in his address at the United Nations General Assembly, much earlier.

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The General Assembly is one of the six main organs of the United Nations.

The Nigerian president told the large audience that: “Corruption within countries and illicit flow of funds across national boundaries have huge negative impact on the stability, peace, and economic prospects of millions in developing countries.

“Corruption significantly deprives national Governments of resources to provide meaningful livelihoods to their populations who are predominantly youths, thus giving rise to more irregular migration.

“The fight against corruption, therefore, involves us all. It is in our collective interest to cooperate in tracking illicit financial flows, investigate and prosecute corrupt individuals and entities and repatriate such funds to their countries of origin.”