Did David Cameron know his mic was on? Were his comments meant to be heard?
Anyway it was recorded on camera. UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, was overheard telling the Queen that Nigeria and Afghanistan are “possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world”.
Apparently the Prime Minister was briefing the Queen on the countries expected to attend an anti-corruption summit organised by the UK government to be held in London on Thursday. The audience included the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Commons Speaker John Bercow.
The clip, recorded by ITV news is shown below.
According to David Cameron,
“We had a very successful cabinet meeting this morning. We talked about our anti-corruption summit. We’ve got…leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain.
“Nigeria and Afghanistan are possibly two of the most corrupt countries in the world”.
Here are some of the reactions on Twitter about these comments:
https://twitter.com/cantreadgreens/status/730115212892844032
David Cameron is wrong in categorizing my beloved country Nigeria as fantastically corrupt,what are his indices,yardsticks and criteria.
— Senator Dino Melaye. (SDM) (@dino_melaye) May 10, 2016
'You do realise one's mic is on, don't you David?' #DavidCameron #Nigeria pic.twitter.com/wMeXJ0Rgd2
— Dionne Grant (@DionneGrant) May 10, 2016
https://twitter.com/tomsanguish/status/730109720300814339
https://twitter.com/teebizy/status/730228639455838208
“Fantastically corrupt”? Let’s not forget the role of the #US + the #UK.https://t.co/ULxHOMvUdc #AntiCorruption pic.twitter.com/ktpcsFkIHW
— Transparency Int'l (@anticorruption) May 10, 2016
By providing safe haven for corrupt assets, #UK is BIG part of the problem: https://t.co/QjaWIdXJjv #AntiCorruption pic.twitter.com/sioOAb2Bqo
— Transparency Int'l (@anticorruption) May 10, 2016
The Nigerian President, Mohammadu Buhari, has issued a statement through his spokesman saying David Cameron’s remarks about Nigeria are “embarrassing”, and that he must be looking at an “old snapshot of Nigeria.”
This is embarrassing to us, to say the least, given 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.
