Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III has called on the federal government to seize the assets of corrupt officials and trial them.
He also declared full support for the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Sultan Sa’ad spoke yesterday in Abuja at the National Security Summit on Community Partnership Approach to Internal Security and Crime Management organized by the Nigeria Police and Sun Publishing Limited.
The Sultan said: “We are 100 percent in support of your fight against corruption in this country, and it is our belief that all those found guilty, should not only have their entire assets seized or and forfeited to government but also face jail sentences.” Sultan Abubakar, who gave the key note address, emphasized that in order to establish a decent state, corruption must be fought to a standstill.
He said the teaching of the 19th century Sultans of Sokoto likened the position of a leader to that of a watering spring which he said if polluted will affect the entire community. He said: “Leaders, according to Sultan Muhammed Bello are like a spring of water, and all your officials are like water wheels, if the spring is pure the filth of the water wheels cannot harm it. “If on the other hand the spring is polluted the purity of the water wheels will have little effect on the purity of water.”
The Sultan added: “I can rightly say that in Mr President we have a pure spring as our president.” He noted that in the past: “Regardless of how many mosques or churches you have built or the charitable works you have carried out, the community will still wish to know the source of your wealth, the respectability you desire will only be conferred when the legitimacy of these sources is verified.”
The Nigerian police and other security agencies, he said, must join the crusade against corruption adding that regardless of how well trained and equipped they are full potentials cannot be attained if corruption and corrupt elements are in their midst. He suggested that those who corrupt the national institutions from the outside must face the same consequences as those who do it from within.
“As traditional and religious leaders, we pledge our full support to bridging the gulfs between our security agencies and our respective communities,” the sultan said. He called on President Buhari to: “Institute a national Integrity plan for this country as soon as feasible, which we believe will refocus our moral, ethical and spiritual energies into building a peaceful prosperous, and democratic country.”
In his welcome address, the Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase said through effective funding, the welfare needs of police personnel will be met. He added that the challenge of corruption that has eroded professionalism and public respect for the police will be addressed. He called for the passage of the Bill on Police Trust Fund which is pending before the National Assembly in order to give legal frame work to effective partnership between the public and the police.
Arase said the Bill seeks to tax corporate entities to complement the Federal Government in funding the police.
“This model will address the manpower deficiency challenge in the Nigeria Police as every citizen plays the role of a police officer,” he said
