President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that his administration’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign is “tough and grueling, and  that some Nigerians who had enriched themselves from proceeds of corruption are using their ill-gotten wealth to fight his government.

This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.

The Presidential spokesman stated that President Buhari made the remarks on Thursday during a meeting with the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry,  on the sidelines of conference on climate change, COP22, in Marrakech, Morocco.

Buhari reportedly assured Secretary Kerry that the campaign against corruption was well on course and has been successful so far, adding, however, that corruption was vigorously fighting back.

Adesina quoted president Buhari as saying that corrupt people had accumulated a formidable arsenal of illicit wealth, which they were now deploying against the government on various fronts.

“But it is a war we are determined to win, and which we will win. People of goodwill are behind us, countries like America and many others are with us, and we will surely win,” he said.

On the efforts being made to tackle the humanitarian crisis in the North East resulting from the Boko Haram insurgency, President Buhari told the US secretary of State that a committee has been formed, headed by retired “Gen TY Danjuma, a man of high integrity” to take care of the people affected by the insurgency.

President Buhari also assured Kerry that negotiations were on to bring the militancy in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria under control.

He regretted however that it was proving difficult to bring major stakeholders in the region under one umbrella.

Buhari expressed satisfaction and gratitude with the support his administration has enjoyed from the America government, adding that the economic recession in the country was being “frontally tackled” and will soon be soon be over.

Adesina stated that secretary Kerry commended Buhari for the successes his administration have recorded so far, pledging that the US will continue to support Nigeria to overcome its economic and security challenges.