'I'll never shield any corrupt APC member,' President says

Buhari, who was reacting to the allegations that he is protecting corrupt members of his party and those who financed his 2015 election campaigns, affirmed that he will come down hard on any of his loyalists if case of corruption is established against them.

The President was said to have made the statement in an interview with a magazine called 'The Interview.'

“Do you just grab people along the road and take them off to court for trial just because you want to create a semblance of balance?," Buhari said.

“First, there has to be an accusation which must be properly investigated, and when a prima facie case has been built, you prosecute.

“If any of my backers or party (APC) members has anything established against them, let’s see whether I will shield anyone from prosecution.

“There seems to be a preponderance of the People Democratic Party members standing trial because they had been in power for 16 years, they had access to the public treasury and abused the trust reposed in them.

“You can be assured that anybody caught in corruption will answer for it irrespective of party, tribe or religion.”

Buhari also said that he was pressured to run for the Presidency by people who believed he could save the country, which according to him, was falling apart.

He said: “You will recall that shortly before the 2011 presidential election, I had said it was the last time I would offer myself for elective position and I meant it, but the following years, we saw our country virtually falling apart on all fronts.

“People felt a rescue exercise was necessary and a large number believed I could do it.

“They made overtures to me and the pressure was so enormous that I could not say no. As they say, the rest is history."

Responding to criticism that his administration cannot boast of one major achievement due to his slow style of operation, the President said "slow and steady wins the race."

“If they say we are slow, do they also say we are steady?

“Then, it means we will win the race eventually.

“There is no wisdom in being in a rush and messing up everything. You will make avoidable mistakes and end up with a lot of regrets,” he said.

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On whether those who voluntarily returned looted funds will be prosecuted or not, the President said he will wait for the recommendation of the Attorney General of the Federation on that, adding that he would not want to deliberately disgrace people.