Put recovered funds to economic use, cleric tells Buhari

 

Looted funds recovered from corrupt political office holders through anti-corruption campaign must be put to productive use in order to move the economy forward, the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Adewale Martins, has said.

The cleric also advised the Federal Government to shun nepotism and put relevant experts in appropriate offices to enhance economic growth.

He spoke while fielding questions from journalists on the state of the economy at the priestly ordination of some clerics in Lagos.

He said, “We hope that some of the recovered funds would be pumped into the economy to ease the recession period. Let us shun nepotism and make use of the right people in order to move forward because of the suffering people are going through.”

Martins also urged state governments to work on a fiscal policy that will shore up their Internally-Generated Revenue to enable them rely less federal allocation.

This, he said, would assist state governments to meet basic needs, particularly in the face of the dwindling economic fortunes of the country.

He said, “Enough of state governments trooping to Abuja for allocation; they also should look for ways to generate funds, they should improve on their IGR by increasing it so that they can pay salaries. When people are not paid for their labour, it could lead the country to another form of insecurity because a hungry man is an angry man.

“Impunity is our major challenge in this country; if the government is able to address this, then it will go a long way to tackle corruption. Otherwise the change we are all clamouring for will not come.”

On security, the Archbishop said there was still a lot of works to be done; adding that if people were not paid their wages as at when due, they could turn to violence.

The Catholic leader recalled that the outcome of a meeting of archbishops in the country held recently in Akure showed that the masses were suffering and it was high time President Muhammadu Buhari overhauled his cabinet and engage experts that could proffer solution to the current economic challenges irrespective of their political affiliation.