LONDON – President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday says he is not demanding “any apology from anybody” after UK Prime Minister David Cameron labelled Nigeria “fantastically corrupt”, the BBC reports.
PM Cameron was caught on camera on Tuesday telling the Queen that “We‘ve got some leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain.
“We’ve got Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world”. Mr. Cameron is hosting an international anti-corruption summit on Thursday.
But, speaking at an anti-corruption event in London, Mr Buhari said rather than demanding an apology, he was more interested in the return of stolen assets held in British banks.
Nigeria was ranked 136th in Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Asked at the event if Nigeria was “fantastically corrupt”, Mr Buhari: “Yes”.
In his speech, the Nigerian leader described corruption as a “hydra-headed monster” which threatened the security of countries and “does not differentiate between developed and developing countries”.
He said corruption in Nigeria was endemic and his government was committed to fighting it.
The UK government will host world and business leaders at the summit on Thursday in London, aiming to “galvanise a global response to tackle corruption”.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Mr Cameron said: “For too long there has been a taboo about tackling this issue head-on.
“The summit will change that. Together we will push the fight against corruption to the top of the international agenda where it belongs.”
