Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will not be seeking any apology from the UK after Prime Minister David Cameron labelled his country “fantastically corrupt”.
While speaking at the anti-corruption forum in London, Buhari said he was more interested in the return of stolen assets held in British banks.
Cameron was recorded in a conversation with Queen Elizabeth, telling her that leaders of “fantastically corrupt countries” would be attending his anti-corruption event, including Nigeria.
Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index placed Nigeria at 136th.
Asked whether his country was indeed “fantastically corrupt”, Buhari said, “Yes.”
In his speech, the Nigerian leader described corruption as a “hydra-headed monster” which threatened the security of countries and “does not differentiate between developed and developing countries”.
Since taking office last year, President Buhari has put much effort in ridding his country of graft. His administration has gone as far as arresting former top government officials to answer to corruption charges.
The UK government will host world and business leaders at the summit on Thursday in London, aiming to “galvanise a global response to tackle corruption”.
