British Govt will return stolen fund to Nigeria – Envoy

By Abdulsalam Muhammad
KANO – The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Paul Awkright has pledged the readiness of his home Government to repatriate stolen fund stashed in British Bank to Nigeria.

Briefing newsmen in Kano Wednesday, the envoy said that ‘what is of utmost concern to British government is how the repatriated funds will be utilized’, adding that ‘it is the hope of British government that the funds will be used on the execution of development projects. ‘

The envoy disclosed that British government is mulling the idea of hosting an international summits on corruption which president Buhari will be invited, as he added that the summit is poised to deliberate on disturbing spate of corruption in the corridor of power.

The High commissioner noted that for corruption to be rooted out in Nigeria, there was a compelling need for institutional change in all spheres of human endeavour, as he further expressed optimism that with President Muhammad Buhari in the saddle of power, Nigeria is on the right track.

Mr. Paul Awkright said “British is committed to helping Nigeria increase its security, stability and prosperity”.

“We would continue to provide capacity building, technical and investigative support to Nigeria to tackle corruption”.

He said “we are working with President Buhari to ensure the success of the fight against corruption and British will continue to support the administration to ensure free corrupt society in Nigeria”.

Commenting on insurgency, the British High Commissioner reaffirmed that the British government will redouble its support to train the Nigerian military to fight insurgency.

Awkright further revealed that the British government is also willing to support children in the northern eastern part of the country to pursue a qualitative academic career in the face of insurgency that had abysmally devastated the region affirming that the DFID programs were geared towards that direction.