President Muhammadu Buhari says the Federal Government is committed to winning the war against corruption in Nigeria.

Buhari said this  in New York at the African Union High-Level Dialogue  with the theme: “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.’’

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the president was unanimously endorsed by AU leaders in January to champion the commission’s theme for 2018.

Buhari commended African leaders for the honour bestowed on him to champion the course of fighting corruption in Africa in 2018 and beyond.

The president, however,  urged African leaders to also remain committed to the fight against corruption to ensure rapid development of the continent.

According to Buhari,  Africa loses about 50 billion dollars to illicit financial flow annually.

“Illicit financial flow out of the continent has become a major concern because of the scale of its negative effects on economic development and governance agenda.

“Some of the effects of corruption include draining of foreign exchange reserves, reduction of tax revenue collection, poor investment inflow and escalation of poverty,” he said.

He said that efforts were being made by  African leaders to checkmate the illicit financial flow from the continent

Buhari said that one of the measures necessary if Africa was to make headway in the fight against corruption, was to evolve  laws and policies which encourage transparent financial transactions.

He said that another measure was to ensure implementation of  measures  that would  mitigate the incentive that facilitate the illegal outflow of funds from the continent.

The president  called on the leaders to organise African youth conferences against corruption in order to sensitise  the youth on the fight against corruption

He also called for the mobilisation of African Union member states to implement the convention on combating corruption.

The president advocated the strengthening of the criminal justice system against corruption and boost  exchange of information sharing best  practices in the fight against corruption.

The AU Chair person,  Mousa Faki,  commended Buhari  for his resolve to fight  corruption,  stressing that it was not by accident that he was appointed to champion the campaign.

Faki described corruption as a cancer that had eaten deep into the fabric of the continent.

He said corruption and illicit financial flow had  hindered investment and deterred the growth of the continent.

“Corruption in all dimensions  discourages investment flow, creates  inequality, escalates  poverty and increases  public expenditure,” he said. (NAN)