Former military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd.), has said the scale of corruption in Nigeria today makes the military administrations of his era ‘saints’.
Babangida made the remark in an old interview with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that has resurfaced online.
Reflecting on the level of accountability and fight against corruption during his time in government, the former military leader cited the dismissal of a military governor over N300,000 as an example of how corruption was treated under his administration.
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According to him, the amount involved was considered serious enough to warrant the governor’s removal, contrasting it with what he described as the much larger sums involved in corruption cases today.
“We are not corrupt. I will proudly say it because what I read in the papers, if it is true, then I think I used to say we are saints,” Babangida said.
“I keep on giving an example. I sacked a governor for N300,000. Today, there are N300 billion, still not issued, not solved.”