President Muhammadu Buhari has urged African leaders to fight tirelessly to get rid of corruption, lamenting that the continent has remained at the far end of global development index because of its menace.

His spokesman, Femi Adesina, in a statement on Saturday, said Buhari spoke in his capacity as the African Union Champion on efforts to eliminate corruption in the continent.

In the event co-hosted by African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on the margins of the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly, the Nigerian leader said criminals are taking advantage of global food crisis to perpetrate illicit financial flows, with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine disrupting energy and food supply chains, thus, negatively impacting the global economy.

Buhari, therefore, challenged his colleagues that for the continent to rise to its full potentials to work tirelessly to get rid of corruption or by fighting it 24/7. The president further urged his colleagues to recall the United Nations General Assembly Special Session Against Corruption political declaration of June 2021 and ensure its effective implementation toward global food security and sustainable infrastructural development in the continent.