The anti-corruption fight of the Muhammadu Buhari administration is about saving the soul of the nation and not about private individuals or political interests, House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila has said.
But Minority Leader Ndudi Elumelu said the battle should not be isolated but collective and sincere.
The lawmakers made the observations yesterday at a seminar marking the House of Representatives Press Corps Day.
The event was jointly organised by the Corps and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Elumelu, noted that corruption undermines the rule of law.
The governance systems in Nigeria should be transparent, he said, adding that the budget process should be made open for the people to know how their money is being spent.
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He said: “Corruption in public office severs the relationship of trust and accountability that ought to exist between the leaders and the people they lead. It is an insidious plague that undermines the rule of law and compromises our democracy. It distorts our sense of morality and negatively redefines the expectations we have of ourselves as citizens.
“Our country is locked in an existential battle against corruption. This is not a fight against individuals or political interests. This is a battle for the soul of a nation, a contest to determine if we in this generation can live up to our highest aspirations and leave for future generations, a prosperous and peaceful nation.
“Success in the fight against corruption requires that we build accountability and transparency into the fabric of our institutions. From the Executive to the Legislature and even the Judiciary, we must let the light into the inner workings of all the branches of government: the ministries, department and agencies through which they operate. Budgets should be public; citizens have a right to know who is spending their money and what it is being spent on.”
To properly checkmate public officials, media houses should provide their personnel the necessary logistics, Gbajabiamila said.
He added: “When the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed into law, many critics worried that the press would abuse the law to demand access to information that isn’t covered by the mandate of the Act. Those critics recognised that the Act provided an enormously powerful tool for truth-seekers to identify and expose malfeasance in public office.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that you, in the press, have fully embraced the possibilities of the Act. Media houses have not invested in training personnel and providing resources for investigative journalism.
“This needs to change because as those of us in public office have a mandate to fight corruption by building a culture of transparency within our institutions, and by empowering law enforcement to do its job effectively without fear or favour, you too have an obligation to hold us to account, and to do so honourably.”
Elumelu, in his capacity as House Minority Leader, said fighting corruption should be sincere and holistic.
He said: “Fighting corruption should be collective, proactive and sincere and, at the same time, should not, by any way, be political or politicised. It is my firm belief that the fight against corruption should not be in isolation; it should be the holistic responsibility of every institution and establishment of the society.
“It demands the overall responsibility of everybody that desires a better country or society.”
The Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Anwal Musa, and the representative of the MacArthur Foundation, Dayo Olaide, asked the leadership of the House to make their offices accessible for information.
Olaide said about N63 trillion had been expended as the budget of the National Assembly from 1999 to 2019, adding that Nigerians needed to know how the agencies of government expended the funds for the good of the people.
The Chairperson of the House of Representatives Press Corps Ms Grace Ike added her voice to those asking lawmakers to be accessible to journalists.
Abdulrazaq Namdas from Adamawa State and Aisha Kadijat from Kebbi State urged the media to assist in correcting the wrong impression about the National Assembly.
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