President Muhammadu Buhari has described as unfair, criticism that his administration has been one-sided in its fight against corruption.
Critics have accused the government of refusing to probe members of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, while those in the opposition are being arraigned.
The president who spoke on a live television programme, The Candidate, anchored by Kadaria Ahmed on Wednesday said there was no one accused of corruption in the last dispensation that was not probed.
He said the problem in some instances was the inability of those who accused others to provide evidence to nail them.
On the programme sponsored by MacArthur Foundation and Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, with the president was Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
Buhari said that the public needed to help the government in the fight against corruption by providing evidence that would make it possible to achieve success in the prosecution.
He also pointed out that it would be wrong under the nation’s democratic rule to jail anyone over alleged corruption without evidence to that effect.
Said he: “That is not fair criticism of the government. I don’t think there is anybody that is being pointed out as corrupt in the last dispensation which we looked the other direction.
“I told you why I have to be careful and the public should help us, if there are strong allegations that are backed up with evidences, bank accounts, names of companies floated, contracts awarded, then we take them before the courts through EFCC and ICPC and we have to trust the system and allow them to complete investigation.
“If we just take people in as we did during the military and lock them up, the present democracy, a multi party democracy does not approve that.
“If you accuse any person, you have to provide evidence in court for him to be prosecuted, So, if there is strong allegations, the government may decide to ask people to go like the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation we asked him to go.
“The matter is already before the EFCC and I believe that a directive has been issued to charge him and all persons who have cases before the EFCC.”
The president also spoke about the success of his government in the area of providing security.
According to him, it had been able to retrieve the local government areas the terrorists group, Boko Haram, was occupying when his government came into power in 2017.
“When this administration came in, Boko Haram was holding on to 17 local governments in the North east. At this moment they are not holding any. They have only resorted to attacking soft targets.
“The best you can get about this administration in terms of fighting Boko Haram is that people are being returned to their various homes, which was not the case before,” he said.
