President Muhammadu Buhari has, for the first time, made reference to the multi-million Dollar Rolls Royces car which a Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye was said to have acquired recently.
The President, who did not however mention name of the owner of the car, spoke to a cross section of Nigerians living in Germany before he left for Nigeria after a three-day official visit to that country.
Nigerian media recently exposed Senator Melaye who was said to have bought the car two years ago from Las Vegas in the United States of America, at the cost of about $400,000, with registration number “MELAYE 2.”
President Buhari, who commended Nigerians for supporting his government’s war against corruption. said: “Nigerians are virtually supporting us in our fight against corruption, security and the economy.”
He referred particularly to “Rolls Royces,” recently discovered in the home of certain government official, as a clear reference of the rot in society and the fact that the war against corruption in the country is working.
President Buhari told Nigerians in the Diaspora that it was regrettable that over the years, oil marketers had colluded with banks to defraud Nigeria of much needed revenue from the commodity.
“One third of the activities of the oil marketers are fraudulent; you can see how some of us Nigerians are wicked.
“They just take the money, stamp some papers without bringing the product and this fraudulent activity was between bankers and businessmen.”
The President said that his administration will continue to to be very hard on corruption, in addition to encouraging more Nigerians to pay their tax.
“If you work hard and get your money we will try and see how much tax you can pay us. But to take money from government and get away with it, no more.”
The President underscored the importance of his three-day visit to Germany, the largest economy in Europe, saying that he was upbeat on improved trade ties between both countries because of new investment incentives offered by Nigeria. [myad]
