Do not spare corupt officials -- Cleric urges president

Sheikh Yusuf Alibawa, a Sokoto-based Islamic cleric, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to spare corrupt public officers found wanting.

"There should be no any sacred cow in the efforts to rid the nation of corruption,'' Alibawa told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Sokoto.

He called for 'thorough and comprehensive’ investigation into the 'mind-boggling’ sums of money carted away in foreign banks by corrupt public officials.

Alibawa urged the President not to be dissuaded in his commitment to fight corruption, adding that the war against graft would only be won if indicted corrupt officials were prosecuted.

The cleric also urged the government to block all loopholes though which public funds are siphoned and appealed to foreign nations to assist the Nigerian government recover ill-gotten wealth stashed in their banks.