President says Nigeria doesn't need foreign aid

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the United States to help Nigeria by plugging all the loopholes that had been used by government officials to steal the country's assets rather than help with foreign aids.

According to Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Publicity, “Buhari did not go to the US with a begging bowl. We don’t need foreign aid, he told everyone, so long as the world powers can help us plug all the loopholes that had been used to steal our assets.”

In a report by Vanguard, Buhari’s four-day visit to the United States had the president meeting US President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, among many other top functionaries, to seek support on making Nigeria stand on its own rather than relying on borrowed funds.

Shehu further quoted his boss as saying: 'There is no organisation or government (across the world) that can give us (Nigeria) $5 billion. If we plug our loopholes and recover stolen money stashed abroad, Nigeria will do well by herself.'

A breakdown of the $13.6 billion earmarked for Nigeria, courtesy of the Buhari US visit, shows that $5 billion is coming for investments in the power sector, another $5 billion is to fund investments in the agricultural sector, $1.5 billion is from the Bill Gates Foundation while $2.1 billion is being provided by the World Bank.