[Mhiz Rebecca]

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has insisted that Nigeria
is not a corrupt country as widely believed.
Speaking with BBC Hausa service, the Senate President said he
would rather prefer to market Nigeria than tag the country corrupt.
Admitting that there were cases of corruption in the country, Saraki
said, “My take is that I must market my country, so I am not going
to be able to label the country as such.
“Yes, there are issues that we must address, but I am not going to
dwell so much on that because I need to market my country so that
I can get private sector in flow.
“I must create an enabling environment that will encourage growth,
because without that, it will be difficult for us to be able to see the
kind of growth that we are talking about. Government alone cannot
do it.”
On whether he had witnessed corruption before, the Senate President
who is currently facing trial for false and anticipatory assets
declaration said, “Of course there are, that is why we have oversight
functions. Like many other countries, we have those kinds of
challenges, but we have moved a long way.”
Earlier, Saraki had said he made 95 per cent of his wealth before he
ventured into politics.