PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has observed that public officers who steal money kept in their trust only pay lip service to the religion they profess.
In his message to mark the beginning of the 30 days fasting period, made available to the media in Abuja, on Sunday night by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, he also advised Muslims to use the holy month of Ramadan as an opportunity to seek forgiveness and getting closer to Allah through worship (Ibadah) and good deeds.
According to the president, a religion should serve as moral restraint from bad practices, while regretting that those stealing national resources were merely paying lip service to religion.
He advised that anybody holding position of trust should primarily remember that they would be accountable one day,  either on earth or the hereafter.
He said the month of Ramadan was a time of spiritual reawakening, which demands not only abstention from food and drinks, but also all wrongdoing in their lives.
The president pointed out that he was disturbed when people seek to make brisk profits by hiking food prices as soon as the month of Ramadan started.
He called on Muslim traders, businessmen and women, civil servants and political office holders to use the month of Ramadan to seek forgiveness of God by abandoning wrong practices for personal gains at the expense of others.
He also said the government was working towards bringing relief to their lives through palliative measures and faithful implementation of the 2016 national budget.
According to him, no elected government would intentionally want to make life difficult for the people that gave it the mandate to serve.