LONDON (AA): Britain’s David Cameron was overheard describing Afghanistan and Nigeria as “possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world.”
The U.K. prime minister was picked up making the remarks by television microphones on Tuesday as he spoke to Queen Elizabeth II at an event to mark her 90th birthday.
The Afghan and Nigerian leaders are among the representatives of 70 countries due to attend an anti-corruption summit in London on Thursday.
Apparently referring to the summit, Cameron can be heard telling the Queen in a clip shared on Twitter by ITV News journalist Chris Ship: “We’ve got the leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain.”
“Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world,” he continues.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria are confirmed as attending the summit, as are U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, standing nearby responded saying: “But this particular president is actually not corrupt, he is “trying very hard” to eradicate corruption.
The U.K. government said Thursday’s summit seeks to “galvanise a global response to tackle corruption”, aiming to secure an international promise to expose global corruption and punish perpetrators.
In a statement on Tuesday night, Nigerian presidential spokesman Garba Shehu called Cameron’s comment “embarrassing” and an “old snapshot” of the country.
The British High Commission in Nigeria said Tuesday evening that the country “stands together” with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in his bid to fight corruption, in an apparent bid to appease.
A spokesman for the Afghan embassy in London said: “President Ghani and his Government since in office have taken major steps to fight corruption. Countering corruption is a top priority along security issues for the National Unity Government.
“We have made important progresses in fighting systematic capture in major national procurement contracts and are making progress on addressing institutional issues as well as issues related to impunity. Therefore calling Afghanistan in that way and taking bold decisions by NUG is unfair.”
*Anadolu Agency Correspondent Rafiu Ajakaye contributed to this report from Lagos, Nigeria.
Additional reporting by The Muslim News
[Photo: UK Prime Minister accuses Nigeria and Afghanistan of being the most corrupt countries. Photographer: Tolga Akmen/AA]
