Former Nigerian President President, Olusegun Obasanjo, is attending the ongoing 30th session of the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an event also being attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, whom the former criticised over alleged poor performance, and asked not to recontest election in 2019.
The two leaders were seen shaking hands at the opening session and held exchanged pleasantries that lasted about two minutes.
While unveiling the AU’s anti-graft Campaign at the summit of Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU, the President Buhari said he would continue to fight corruption “today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” indicating that there is no going back to the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
The President described strong institutions as a necessary condition for winning the fight against corruption, stressing that for the corruption war to be won, African leaders must empower anti-corruption agencies and insulate them from political influence.
He cited a report that revealed that the African continent lost $50 billion annually to illicit flow of capital and stated that the manifestation of corruption in Africa was a demonstration of need for strong leadership.
He called on African nations to build synergy between the executive, judiciary and legislature in order to entrench good governance.
Buhari said that Africans, especially leaders, must have a change of mindset by prioritising accountability and transparency in order to succeed in the fight against corruption
But he also told participants at the summit to be battle ready in the war against corruption as it was not going to be a straight forward task, emphasizing that corruption will always fight back.
He, however, admonished African leaders to remain resolute irrespective of the setback they may encounter in the bid to rid the place off corruption.
He recommended, among other things, that an African youth congress against corruption be organised and criminal justice system be strengthened in order to win the anti-graft war.
The theme of the summit is “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to African Transformation.”
