Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Dino Melaye last night dismissed the derogatory claim of British Prime Minister David Cameron that Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt”.

President Buhari, who arrived London last night for an anti-corruption summit being hosted by Mr. Cameron, tweeted that “the Prime Minister must be looking at an old snapshot of Nigeria. Things are changing with corruption and everything else. The eyes of the world are on what is happening here in Nigeria.”

Also, a statement by the President’s Spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, said: “It is certainly not reflective of the good work that the president is doing. The eyes of the world are on what is happening here.

“The Prime Minister must be looking at an old snapshot of Nigeria. Things are changing with corruption and everything else.

“That, we believe is the reason they chose him as a keynote speaker at the pre-summit conference.”

The statement, also thanked the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who tried to correct Cameron after his remark, saying: “Thank you to the Archbishop. We very much cherish the good relationship between our two countries and nothing should stand in the way of improving those relations.”

On his part, Dino Melaye, a member of the 8th Senate, while reacting to Cameron’s statement on his Twitter handle, said: “David Cameron is wrong in categorising my beloved country, Nigeria, as fantastically corrupt.” He asked: “What are his indices, yardsticks and criteria?”

Melaye admitted the decadence and corruption in the country but added: “While I agree that we are corrupt, on what basis can Cameron justify that we are the most corrupt country in the world?”

•State House Photo shows President Buhari stepping out from the Presidential Jet upon landing in London . . . last night.

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