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               Nigeria Opposition Leader Vows to Improve Security

   by Peter Clottey

   The newly elected presidential candidate of Nigeria's main opposition
   All Progressives Congress (APC) said if he wins February's general
   election, he would resolve the country's security failures.

   General Muhammadu Buhari said among the main challenges will be
   improving intelligence gathering, which repeatedly has been found
   wanting in the face of terrorist attacks.

   General Buhari is a former Nigerian head of state. He seized power in a
   coup in 1983 and ruled as head of a military junta until he was
   overthrown by another general, Ibrahim Babangida, in 1985. He had
   earlier served as the country's federal commissioner for petroleum.

   After being nominated to run this time, General Buhari expressed
   concern that some politicians could undermine the Independent National
   Electoral Commission's (INEC) ability to administer a credible and
   transparent vote.

   "We think it will be the last thing that the PDP [People's Democratic
   Party] government will allow free fair and credible election. The
   examples in Ekiti and Osun [states] this year proved us right," said
   Buhari.

   President Goodluck Jonathan and members of his administration have
   pledged several times that the election would be credible and
   transparent despite the criticisms.

   Corruption

   In an interview with VOA, Buhari said the governing PDP is to blame for
   corruption, which he says has become institutionalized in Nigeria.

   "People have expressed extreme concern about corruption in the country.
   We have to develop a way to stop corruption. If we don't stop
   corruption as some of the feature article writers say in Nigeria,
   corruption will kill Nigeria," said Buhari.
   "And the best way to do it is to draw a line. Those cases that are in
   court we will not interfere with the court proceedings, and to
   encourage the court to prosecute all those that are found to be
   corrupt," he said.

   He said corruption has so far rendered government institutions
   ineffectual to address the needs of the people as was originally
   intended.

   "From that day we are sworn in, anybody that is responsible for state
   resources or the treasury and at the local government, there would be
   proper auditing according to financial instructions, and anybody found
   waiting would be prosecuted," said Buhari.

   PDP officials have strongly denied graft accusations against the
   government. They said Jonathan's administration has been at the
   forefront of combating graft.

   Tension

   Political observers have often accused politicians of taking advantage
   of ethnic and religious differences to win elections.

   Buhari said conditions could get worse if not properly tackled.

   "This extreme religious problem in Nigeria is a recent phenomenon and
   is very unfortunate, because capable people may be denied participation
   at the expense of government efficiency because they belong to one
   religion or the other," said Buhari.

   Insecurity

   The government has waged a five year battle against the Islamist
   insurgent militant group, Boko Haram. 242 days ago, the militants
   kidnapped more than 200 school girls in Chibok in northern Nigeria.
   Their whereabouts remains unknown.

   Last July the militants also attacked Buhari's convoy, killing several
   of his aides.

   Buhari said military and security agencies have been ineffective in
   combating Boko Haram violence. He also said the administration has
   failed to provide security agencies with the weapons they need to carry
   out their mission successfully.

   Buhari outlined measures he said, if implemented, could resolve the
   country's insecurity challenges

   "Intelligence gathering has to be improved," said Buhari. "Specifically
   what came out of the inefficient way the military is conducting
   operation against Boko Haram is extreme corruption in the system...The
   soldiers could not travel not because they were afraid of the
   insurgents, but because they cannot face the insurgents with inferior
   weapons or without ammunitions."

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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-opposition-leader-vows-to-imp
   rove-security/2557090.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/nigeria-opposition-leader-vows-to-improve-security/2557090.html