29th May, 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari said the judicial system in the county needed critical reform to deal with cases, especially corruption, militating against its effectiveness.
Buhari stated this in his inaugural speech on Friday in Abuja after he was sworn in as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
He charged the judiciary to urgently tackle cases of serious financial crimes and abuse of office brought before it.
“It is only when the three arms of government act constitutionally that government will be able to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion all-too-often bedeviling governance in the country.
“The relation between the Federal and the States has to be clarified if we are to serve the country better,” he said.
According to him, constitutionally, there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but Federal Government will not fold its arms and overlook what is going on in other tiers.
“Least of concern is the operations of the Local Government Joint Account; while the Federal Government cannot interfere in the details of its operations, it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked.
“As far as the Constitution allows me, I will try to ensure that there is responsibility and accountability in governance at all levels.
“I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria economy is deep in trouble because of the depletion in foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts.
“Solving this problem will require careful management of resources,” Buhari said and solicited support, and cooperation of labour unions, organised private sector, the media and civil society organizations in that regard.
Buhari said that the Federation Government needed the collaboration of relevant groups and interests to succeed in this task of rebuilding the nation.
He appealed to employers and workers to unite in raising productivity to enable everybody to have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity.
The president said that the Nigerian media were the most vibrant in Africa and appealed to them, including the social media, to exercise its powers with responsibility and patriotism