Charlian News reporter learnt from a very reliable and privileged source and a close confidant of the president, that the trip to the US was predicated essentially on three key issues, which include the spirited efforts by Buhari to get a substantial part of Nigeria’s stolen wealth (funds) running into several trillions of dollars and stashed away in foreign banks, repatriated to Nigeria.
Another important item for discussion between the two leaders, is to
seek ways in which the United States government could assist Nigeria in the area of military logistics and other technical measures in the on-going war to flush out the Boko Haram insurgents, whose violent activities have resurged in the North-East and some North-Central zones of Nigeria.The third issue, according to our source, is to work out effective modalities on how the United States government could help Nigeria in the efforts by the All Progressive Congress (APC) controlled federal government to stimulate the nation’s ailing economy and revamp the critical sectors that could help generate mass employment.
Charlian News reporter however learnt that a worried President Muhammadu Buhari, had, during a private friendly interaction with our source at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday night regarding his planned trip to the US, expressed his displeasure and dismay, with the level of plundering of the nation’s financial resources by politicians, officials of the previous governments, their family members and cronies, and lodging them in foreign banks.
The president,Charlian News reporter gathered, told his friend that during his recent official trip to Germany for the G-7 meeting, the European and American leaders took him into confidence on the level of graft in Nigeria involving some powerful and influential citizens of the country, who had huge funds amounting to well over $5trillion, hidden in foreign banks. A reasonable amount of this money is said to be abandoned in the foreign banks because of the anti-money laundry laws in place in some of those countries including Switzerland.
But they were said to have made it clear to Buhari that the money would not be brought back to Nigeria as the president had requested, as according to them, the pulling out of funds of such magnitude, could negatively affect their economies. Besides, the leaders expressed their displeasure to Buhari, that the alleged General Sani Abacha loot which ran into several millions in different foreign currencies and repatriated under the regimes of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, could not be accounted for by the Nigerian government. The leaders therefore reasoned that there was no guarantee that the stolen money in question will be well managed for productive purposes if returned to Nigeria.
According to the source, President Buhari said that as a way out, the G-7 leaders further assured him that a private meeting with some of the key leaders of that elite group would be necessary at different times, to fashion out ways of assisting the Nigerian government rebuild the country. They however mandated Buhari to come up with a list of key areas of need which the group would be willing to assist Nigeria especially in the aspects of funding, partnership and people-oriented project monitoring and funds disbursement, to ensure effective implementation.
Charlian News reporter however learnt from our source, that following the last G-7 summit, there have been subsequent informal inter-presidential discussions between Aso Rock Villa and the White House, on the possibility of a parley between Buhari and Obama and some key officials of the US and Nigerian government, on areas of partnership or bilateral cooperation in assisting the APC government in Nigeria on its quest for economic recovery and war against the Boko Haram insurgency.
The source told Charlian News reporter : “President Buhari is burning with zeal to fix this country. He revealed how he has been mounting relentless pressure on the leaders of these foreign nations to help this country. He said he was assured of adequate cooperation in rebuilding this country, but that they won’t return the stolen cash because it would affect their own various economy and that of Nigeria negatively, if that amount of money is brought into this system.
“Mr President is so disturbed by the kind of damage done to this country over the years by her past leaders and their friends and family members. He has been advised by the world leaders that confronting these powerful people aggressively, may not elicit much cooperation as government wanted. Don’t forget that most of these people were former leaders of this country and many have held important public positions with all manner of external connections. So they can get desperate and panicky and do anything. An option therefore is a kind of plea bargaining which is being considered by the President as he has been well advised, to get some of the money out from them.
“But President Buhari has worked out an effective offensive formula that would bring these criminal elements to their knees in due course if they fail to play ball. The good thing about it all, is that Mr President has the firm backing of the leaders of the world powers in whose countries much of these funds are being kept. It is the first stage of this process of recovery that the president is being invited by President Barrack Obama. If you look at the travel team, you will discover that they are carefully selected.
“And if you also look at the US officials that the Nigerian Presidential delegation would be meeting with during the 4-day trip, you will know that something clandestine is going on at the official level. But something must give at the end of the day. This government and the foreign leaders are not unaware that these elements will attempt some funny reactions, but they will be caged in the end. You can see that the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari was divine. This nation is on the national precipice, but must be surely redeemed one way or the other “, the source maintained
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