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Tag: fight corruption

  • Lagos gets e-platform to fight corruption

    •Ambode: portal ready in three weeks

    The Lagos State Government will activate its e-procurement platform in three weeks to eliminate corruption in public procurement, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said yesterday.

    In an address he sent to the second Lagos State Annual Public Procurement Summit, held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Ambode said the portal would be activated with the “key” Ministries of Works, Health and Education.

    He was represented by the Head of Service (HOS), Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, at the summit, which theme was: “Entrenching transparency and prudence in the management of government’s procurement process: The responsibility of stakeholders”.

    “By the end of 2019, 80 per cent of other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) would have been brought on board. It is projected that by the end of 2020, e-procurement will be fully implemented at all levels of public governance, including local governments,” Ambode said.

    He described the summit’s theme as apt, saying it speaks on the need for integrity, “which is the combination of honesty, accountability, transparency, fairness, self-discipline and probity, to take its course in the public procurement process.”

    The governor said the summit was a platform for stakeholders to deliberate on emerging issues and challenges and come up with ideas that would align the state public procurement law and implementation with global best practices.

    “Apart from being the process by which the government contracts infrastructure, supplies and professional services; transparent procurement is central to expenditure management of any government.

    “Thus, there is an urgent need to ensure the procurement process is transparent, efficient and effective, in order to curb wastage and misappropriation of public funds and resources,” he said.

    Ambode said before the coming of the public procurement law, corruption thrived in the procurement of goods, works and services.

    “However, the public procurement law has entrenched clear and unambiguous governing rules on public procurement. A full and committed implementation of the governing rules on public procurement reduces public procurement malpractices, uncompleted contracts or unexecuted contracts,” he said.

    The governor said his administration was working to ensure that the procurement process was transparent, adding that this was part of the reason the platform was being activated.

    The responsibility of entrenching transparency and prudence in the public procurement sector, he said, did not rest solely on the government.

    “It is a collective responsibility which requires the efforts of stakeholders, including contractors/suppliers and non-governmental organisations.”

    Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (LSPPA) General Manager Mr. Fatai Onafowote said public procurement had come to stay.

    “Public procurement is about total life cycle of the goods, works and services to be procured, using public fund. It is about planning, contract formation, contract management and disposal of public asset,” he said.

     

  • How I will fight corruption, by Olawepo-Hashim

    The presidential candidate of the Alliance for Peoples Trust (APT), Gbenga Olwawepo-Hashim, spoke with reporters in Abuja on how he will reposition the economy and fight corruption, if elected as president in next year’s election.

    How will you fight against corruption?

    I’ve told you that we have to deal with corruption from a point of view of an integrated policy for it to be effective, by removing the root cause of corruption. One of the reasons why people were bribing NITEL official was that you had 400,000 lines to 80 million people. But once you allowed competition in that place and now you have over a hundred million lines and the lines are now even almost for free. It is the network producers that are trying to induce you with all kinds of packages so that you can buy their own. We eliminated corruption in the telecom sector through competition and policy. Nigeria’s corruption which takes place mostly in the public agencies is as a result of over centralisation. Wherever you have a long queue, people will do anything to jump the queue. Once you have a system where only man can sign a piece of paper, he becomes like an emperor. Everybody is lobbying him with money, with language, with sentiment , with religion. But once he is not the only emperor in town who can do the same business, your reduce all those corruptive tendencies around him. So, it is not just only through punishment.

    President Muhammadu Buhari recently said that the  economy is looking good and he will make it better. That seems to have taken sail out of a number of candidates like you who have been hammering on the poor state of the economy. Don’t you think so?

    Anybody who read O.A Lawal or Teriba on O/Level Economics will know that the economic management under the APC government is a disaster. Even if you didn’t go to school, you can relate to some credible data immediately. The Brooklyns Institute just indicated that just within the past four months alone, over a million Nigerians joined the category of those who are acutely poor. That is to say they have fallen below that bracket of those who live on two dollars a day and there are 88 million Nigerians in that category right now. This has never happened before.

    Secondly, it is a big tragedy that under a regime of high oil price as we have now because the excuses before was that oil price was low; we have a very high oil price regime now and poverty is on the rise, there is a run on the reserve of the country. It looks to me like the APC as a government has made a covenant with poverty and they are irredeemably committed to impoverishing Nigerians. The truth of it is that the President does not understand basic economics. Otherwise, he would not say that the economy is looking good.

    There is no way the economy can grow without appreciable electricity supply. What will your party do to improve the electricity?

    Interestingly, that’s a sector I’ve invested in globally. The first thing we need to do for infrastructure generally is that you have to be able to sustain investment in that sector. Once investors are able to see a pathway to profitability, you don’t need to wax record for them to bring their money because what they are looking for is profit. They will invest, either it is in the generation sector, distribution or even concessioning or transmission.

    Right now, there are lots of obstacles that have grown on the path of the investor and that’s why you are not seeing the needed investment in that sector. Some of these obstacles are not to do with the law because Nigeria has one of the best electricity sector reform Acts in the world. What you have is manifest incompetence in implementing the provisions of the Act. You also have a situation where some regulators even think that their job is to stop investments. That’s their perception of their job as regulators. When you appear as one who wants to invest in the sector, they want to prove to you that what you have set out to do is not doable. They don’t have an attitude of how do we ensure that this investment comes true. So, they start writing letters and quoting all the rules that will make impossible to do the investment.

    From a practical point of view, these are some of the things that can be dealt with through executive actions within 90 days and once you remove those obstacles that will make an investor to stay four years before he gets license or ten years before he concludes an agreement with an off taker, when he needs only 18 months to deliver a power plant, once you boot out all those obstacles by the right appointment and you generate executive orders that can give standard operating procedures as to tenor of applications.

    Most importantly too is that we have to decentralize power for Nigeria’s infrastructure to grow. For instance, we should be able to have local transmission grids that the states can have under their own jurisdictions and I tell you that just be merely amending and rearranging the distribution of power in the legislative list and we have states being able to participate in the local transmission, a state like Lagos plus Ogun State within four years will net about $100 billion investment in the power sector and they will be able to get the needed investment that will generate about 18,500 megawatts of electricity, which in my estimate is a reasonable need for the capacity that those two states have right now, based on their population.

    You know that it’s scandalous that Nigeria, based on its population, needs about 160,000 megawatts of electricity and we are not just ten percent of it. South Africa which is a country of about 50 million people, has more than 50,000 megawatts of electricity. Even Heathrow Airport generates more electricity than the whole of Nigeria. That’s to tell you how terrible it is.

    So, I understand the issues and one of the things I will be bringing to the table as the President is my 27 years’ experience in the private sector as an investor that has invested all over the world. I know why investors put money in one country and why they refuse to put money in another country and I can fix that in a matter of months and return Nigeria back to growth and expand the GDP of the economy.

    For a long time, we have concentrated on inanities. It’s good to fight corruption, but you can better fight corruption when you decentralise. Any system where only one man can sign a piece of paper has inbuilt corruption in it because that man becomes extra-terrestrial; and because centralisation creates bureaucracy, that is where all kinds of lobbyists come in to collect bribes on behalf of public officials.

    For instance, when we had only NITEL, Nigeria had only 400,000 telephone lines. They were always having tax forces in NITEL to fight corruption and sharp practices. But it never worked. In fact, those tax forces became the centre of corruption because in what legitimate manner will you allocate 400,00 lines among 80 million people at that time. It’s either the person is from your village or you have taken money from him because there is no legitimate reason to treat one application over the other. But the moment we decentralized and we have a number of carriers, it’s the operators who now lobby to find out who you are. They are looking for your economic data so that they can target you with their products. So, decentralisation, competition drives efficiency and naturally reduces corruption.

    So, one of the major failures of APC is that APC was resistant to devolution and decentralisation of power and at the same time, they said they were trying to fight corruption. When you decentralize, it will lead to rapid infrastructural development. So, decentralization and devolution of power is not just simply a political discourse. It’s a fundamental requirement for rapid economic growth to reduce and completely eliminate poverty.

    What is your take on restructuring?

    The word restructuring has been so politicized that even the content of the discourse sometimes is lost. There are people who are generally scared when they hear that and for some, because it is the new fact that everybody wants to hear, they have to mouth it. The point for me is the content. When you are talking about decentralisation, you are talking about devolution of power. We have been talking about that for more than 30 years now. Senator Mahmoud Waziri was the Treasurer of our group then, the National Consultative Forum, led by Alao Aka-Bashorun. The group that first talked about decentralisation of power and we attempted organizing a national conference under the army and the army brought armoured tanks to stop us in National Theatre. It was a well-articulated and well thought out position. We had the people who we called the technocratic group who were people who have been Super Permanent Secretaries in the days when the military came into power for the first time. They themselves came to the conviction that an over-centralized Nigeria was unworkable and that we needed to decentralize and devolve power. Then we had those of us who came from the Human Rights Movement led by Alao Aka-Bashorun, Beko Ransom-Kuti. I was the National Administrative Secretary. A lot of people who are talking restructuring today were with that military government opposing us. Some of them were contesting under them. They said we were talking rubbish, that we should allow them to do their elections, while we were focused on the issues that were germane, which was the structure of the state. But because a lot of Nigerians don’t have a sense of history, anybody can just appear during elections and open his mouth and then he will get attention. Those who created a lot of political illiteracy in the air right now did it deliberately because they removed history from the syllabus. So, for some people, whatever they just read in the internet within two weeks, because they don’t even have memory to remember what happened five years ago, not to talk of what happened 30 years ago.

    This also encourages a lot of political fraud. Sometimes, we transport ourselves to be defrauded politically. I would have expected a good research on this issue. One of the things you see in academics first is that you pay tribute to the originator of a given idea. There is lot of intellectual fraud in this country. People are talking about restructuring. There is even no tribute to Alao Aka-Bashorun who died fighting for this. There I no remembrance of Mahmoud Waziri. There is no mention of Anthony Enahoro. Some people just get up and open their mouth and they want to look they are the originator of such idea . The media has the responsibility to do more than just reporting fraud. They need to dig deep and refocus public discuss.

    So, I don’t want to deal with the noise. I want to deal with the content. The content is that we need to devolve power. Over centralisation is unworkable. It leads to corruption and inefficiency. To be quite honest, when mwmade the campaign on that note, it was not ethnic. That’s why we had Mahmoud Waziri as our treasurer. Alhaji Tanko Yakassai was part of us. They didn’t see any qualms with what we were talking about. But when you regionalize it and you begin to evoke ethno religious sentiment around that issue, you cannot have a consensus around such an issue.

    So, punishment alone does not deter corruption. As a matter of fact, when a practice becomes something that almost everybody is engaged in, then you have a huge social problem. It’s no longer something that you can deal with police action. It’s something that you have to deal with policy, attacking it at its root.

    You also have the other level of corruption where people are programmed through extreme and acute poverty to cope and survive. If you give a policeman about N20,000 and you give him a gun, can anybody survive on N20,000 in Nigeria? He leaves work, sometimes he gets shot, he has no insurance and all that and then you come and start talking that people are too corrupt. I’m not justifying people collect bribes because I’ve never taken bribe in my life. But I’m telling you that more than just shouting and mouthing it, you have to deal with it through policy for it to be effective. I am not one of the people who believe that Nigerians are innately corrupt. When I was growing up, women will put their wears by the roadside and they will indicate that they are selling that product with three stones. People will com e and they will drop the exact price of money. Nobody will take those wears without putting the money and nobody will come and take the money. I saw it. So, are you saying that Nigerians are innately corrupt? A system that will produce a group of people that will pay for wears without being supervised? What do you call such a system? A system that produce people of high integrity. So, everything has to be put into proper context.

    How did we get to where we are now that even if the woman sits down, they will kidnap her and ask for ransom? That’s a Nigeria than the Nigeria that I saw. There have been some kind of economic and social change that have programmed people to behave in such a way and it’s the comprehensive social engineering programme that we have to do through policy to turn Nigeria back to a path of sanity. It’s not irreversible. But it’s not something that anybody will begin to brag as you are the champion of anti-corruption and every other person that is successful must be corrupt. We have always had successful people in Nigeria and they were not successful because they were corrupt. They were not even in the public sector and they were not government contractors because there is also a dangerous narrative which is making people who are lazy to feel important, to assume that people who are successful, all of them are corrupt. Not every successful person is a corrupt person and the fact that you are not successful, you are not rich does not mean that you have integrity. Poverty is not the badge of honour . Poverty is a curse that we must remove from this land and nobody should run a political campaign of trying to say that you are trying to save poverty. We want more people to leave poverty, to become prosperous. So, we must not run an anti-corruption campaign that tries to make every successful person to look corrupt because it’s also encouraging indolent people. We have to be careful about the narrative and the way we are putting out there.

    I have never collected a bribe from anybody in my life. I have not collected money from government in my life or allowances from anywhere. So, nobody can talk to me about being corrupt or whatever. I fought in this country and put my life on the line. I have my own integrity too. There are a lot of Nigerians who have integrity and they are rich people. They are not poor. So, it’s not only “poor Buhari” that has integrity. There are many Nigerians who have integrity. But what we are saying is that we will reform this country from the point of knowledge, from the point of information, not from the point of illiteracy. The problem that we have with mass corruption in the land is something you can resolve through police action. You need a comprehensive social reengineering programme that will deal with corruption at its root.

    How do we   achieve that national consensus?

    I told you that in 1989, we had a national consensus among the civilian elite who were opposed to the military on how to reform the Nigerian State and we didn’t have just Yorubas or Igbos or Hausas. We had everybody. We had Mahmoud Waziri. We had Alhaji Tanko Yakassai. We had from the South, Chief RBK Okafor. We had people from the South-South. We had Madaki coming from Kaduna and all these people. So, we had a national consensus on how Nigeria needs to be reformed. It is the quality of the political leadership that the country is producing now that is making national consensus to be impossible. It’s not as if Nigerians cannot achieve a national consensus. Nigerians in this country once voted for a Muslim Muslim ticket. They had no qualms about that. They elected Abiola and Kinkibe. What national consensus for development could be greater than that, ignoring all the divisions and saying we will cast our votes even for a Muslim, Muslim ticket? The people of Benue had once elected Sir Kashim Ibrahim a Kanuri man to be their representative in the Northern Assembly, in a predominantly Christian State. Our people had no qualms about that. Some Igbos were Chairmen of Council in Lagos. Our people had no qualms about that. This generation is more illiterate, even though a lot of us have assembled a lot of certificates than our forebears in matters of national unity and matters of state and have conducted themselves as people who were ready to forge a united Nigeria, rather than what we have now. One of the problems is the quality and substance of education. When people don’t have a sense of history, it’s very difficult for them to resolve very simple problems.

    One of the indices of development is job creation. The World Bank and so many agencies have told us that to stabilize Nigeria, the country needs to create not less than 4 million jobs annually for the next ten years. As President, how do you think you can make this happen?

    When we grow the size of the economy, jobs are automatically created. The Oxford economy in Pricewatercooper study of available funds for infrastructure worldwide, there is $78 trillion US Dollars to be spent on infrastructure worldwide in ten years. Nigeria is a country with massive infrastructural deficit that returns above average on investment and therefore naturally should be a destination for infrastructure funds from Edmonds funds, from pension funds globally. The problem with Nigeria is that we have public servants as regulators who are putting stops on the way. They can do road shows to you in France because they will collect estacode to do the road show . The day you take your ticket and come to Nigeria, they will say okay he has come. They will show you pepper. They have an attitude that you have come to make money. They have a belligerent attitude towards investors to start with. I know that as a businessman, when you go there and you are trying to build a project, they are arguing to you why it is not possible. They are looking for all the rules in the book to stop that project. That’s one of the problems.

    Investors are also interested in sanctity of agreement, that once an agreement is concluded, it will be followed through, and if there is any deviation from the agreement, the dispute resolution mechanisms will be so swift. It’s not like somebody has violated a business agreement and we are going to court for 50 years. No investor has time for that kind of thing. That’s why we must have a very robust arbitration system. These are things that the Ministry of Justice can handle in collaboration with the Chief Justice of the Federation and the……. So, some of these things are not just simply political. We will rejig our legal infrastructure to make sure that Nigeria is more business friendly so that when an investor brings his money, he knows that there will be sanctity of agreement.

    So, the issue of the ease of doing business, why Nigeria has scandalously fallen to 145 in the world is fundamental due to our inability to net infrastructure funds, in as much as we have a high rate of return. If we can net just five percent of infrastructure funds, that’s $3.3 trillion in ten years alone.

    Secondly, you have a lot of remittances that have happened in the past from Nigerians abroad, even though we have not had a deliberate, organized investment oriented networking with the Nigerian diaspora, which can contribute a lot of capital for Nigeria’s development and job creation. In 2013 alone, over $27 billion, almost competing with our oil revenue, came from foreign remittances. With an organized strategy, we can up it to a hundred billion dollars in a year. In ten years, that is $1 trillion, just from infrastructure investment alone, and by rejigging remittances, I’ve told you how you can have $4 trillion investments in ten years. $4 trillion investment in ten years will bring Nigeria to become a middle income like Thailand, Chile, Malaysia and other places. It’s not necessarily going to take us to become like United States or Germany. So, it’s a very modest target that will create jobs. Infrastructure creates job .

    The other point of job creation is also to integrate agriculture with industry and manufacture. Agriculture does not create value when it just lands in the stomach and he one that cannot land in the stomach is thrown into the rubbish bin. It becomes more meaningful when its tied to industry and manufacture. That’s where the value and jobs are created. So, we have to organize agric and integrate it with solid minerals and industry.

    We have a financial sector reform that will deepen the amount of capital available in the financial market. A lot of guys got banking license in cooking books. Some of them were former AGMs and all that. They have been using their banking license to take a mileage on the economy and all they do is to crowd out real investors by collecting all the deposits and giving money to governments through bonds, just funding government borrowing and the private sector is crowded out.

    We must reform the financial market in such a way that at some point in time, industrialists gets to access funds below double digits. In China, the lending rate is like 4 percent. In some other countries, it’s less than 4 percent. So, when someone wants to set up a factor in Nigeria and he goes to take money at almost 30 percent, you know that he’s out of the business globally. So, where to start is the reform of the financial sector and to deepen the amount of capital. Reforming the financial sector also means that I want to have more economists, more intellectual, more businessmen on the board of Central Bank, not just bankers who are money lenders. They cannot have effective regulation. Therefore, the Central Bank Governor that you will see me nominate will be the Central Bank Governor that shares the perspective to grow the real sector. What we have had in the past two or three decades is that the Central Bank has been captured by money lenders who are supposed to be regulated. So, the policies that are coming here are not focused on economic growth, job creation, industrialization and development. They are focused on looking after the interest of those who have banking license. You cannot have that continuing and you will have growth. I’m quite aware that the CBN has autonomy, therefore I cannot interfere with the day to day monetary policies because they have independence and autonomy to run that. But I have power as a President to nominate a Governor that will be in alignment with my own perspective for growth. Therefore, I will give you a very good Central Bank Governor that will drive growth, development, job creation and the expansion of the GDP of Nigeria. I will not give you a Central Bank Governor that is going to be captured or that is a representative of money lenders.

    The current government keeps arguing that the problem with the country’s power sector is not about generation but about distribution and that in the last 50 years, Nigeria has not built infrastructure. What they have been doing in the last three years is to put infrastructure in place so that they can evacuate what they generate and distribute. How true is that?

    These guys are jokers.

    This government has been burdened by rising debt profile. Is that not an issue?

    There is nothing wrong with borrowing, but what you use the money for. Nigeria is not a heavily indented country. Nigeria’s debt stock is still less than 20 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. Before, it was about 12 percent. Now it has risen by about 8 percent and most middle income countries in the club of Nigeria, their debt profile to their GDP is above 40 percent. United States is almost about 102 percent. Their debt profile is bigger than their GDP. The issue is what you do with the money that you take. Is there a cash flow from where that investment is going? If you take money and go and build a road to nowhere that will not generate any economic activity, that is a negative borrowing. So, it’s not borrowing that is the problem but what do you use the money for.

    I will rather, for instance, use a lot of sovereign instruments to give comfort to investors who are naturally positions to do good investments than public institutions and agencies. Whereas, they have refused to provide sovereign guarantee for people who have brought money to invest in the country to back their uptaking counter parties , they are taking loans and bonds directly. When civil servants and politicians take loans, it ends up at the FAAC. The foreign exchange market will go and take it out of the country. But when you back investors who are putting money with sovereign instrument to say if everything fails, you have my back. First, they are spending their money and your liability is contingent liability. That spurs investment in a very harsh environment like that. So, my strategy will be to use my sovereign instrument to give comfort for real investments and benchmark those investment portfolios, rather than just continuously taking money directly and distributing it to civil servants and politicians who will not manage them well. That’s the problem and I don’t know why they are not using their sovereign instruments to give comfort to investors. They will rather be taking money and spending it directly as the government. So, taking loans is not the issue. I actually believe that Nigeria is not heavily indebted, given the size of the GDP. But I have problems with what they are using the money for that we cannot see it.

    Read also: 2019 election budget: Senate cuts N35.5bn from Power, Education

    The campaign train will be hitting the road in a matter of days, not many Nigerians understand the dynamics of economics. Nigerians understand what a candidate has to promise in terms of dividends of democracy. What are going to be telling the ordinary Nigerians to break down this issue of economy ?

    It’s so simple that for the past 27 years, I’ve been creating jobs as a private entrepreneur, locally and globally. So, when I’m in government, I will create jobs. Once of the reasons why President Buhari does not understand how to create jobs is that he has been living on government for almost 50 years. He rides on government car, doesn’t buy petrol, so he cannot feel what the ordinary people are feeling. But for the past 27 years, I pay salaries. If you see me ride a car, I bought it with my money. I fuel the petrol . I run my energy sources. So, I feel what the ordinary people feel. So, those who have never created jobs in their life cannot now get into government and begin to learn it. So, I’ve been creating jobs and they can believe me that I know how to do it.

    Secondly, I’m going to unite Nigeria, which the APC government has not been able to do. Nigeria now is more divided than at any point in time in our history. I will secure the country and I think most Nigerians are really very worried about security. Security is key to many people, even before economy because without security, you cannot even do your farming. Farmers cannot even go to farm in many states of the federation right now because there is no consequence for those who have been killing other people. They don’t see them punished and therefore there is no deterrence. It’s looking like the lives of the average Nigerian does not count. I will make the life of every Nigerian to count as President and Commander in Chief and it starts from day one. When there is killing and there is consequence , the killers are punished immediately, other people will be careful to run in excitement to want to take other people’s lives. What we have seen is after killings have been done, public officers come to justify why those killings happened. They come to explain to us why those people had to kill other people. There is no explanation for why anybody had to take any other person’s life. What we should be explaining and showing the people I what we have done with the murderer. Your body language as President and Commander in Chief is important for the kind of security environment you are going to get. From day one, I will leave nobody in doubt that I will be a President and Commander in Chief for all Nigerians, not some Nigerians. So, some people have to feel that they have a special privilege to take other people’s lives.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Govt urged to fight corruption by entrenching transparency

     

    The Federal government has been advised to expand and entrench transparency and rule of law in its fight against corruption.

    Prof Rotimi Suberu of the Department of Political Science, Bennington College, Vermont, USA gave the charge at a lecture organised by the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy (ISGPP).

    He spoke on ‘Constitutional Foundations of Political Corruption in Nigeria and a Reform Strategy.”

    The seminar was chaired by Prof Ayo Olukotun of the Department of Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.

    Suberu, in a statement by ISGPP yesterday, said political institutions as drivers of corruption were the most decisive and most amenable to formal constitutional reform.

    He regretted that these institutions are often neglected in scholarly and policy discussions regarding anti-corruption reform.

    Suberu suggested that policy measures be put in place to effectively depoliticise, deepen and strengthen the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    He explained that a constitutional amendment or legislation to grant public access to official assets declarations will build upon the initial enthusiasm generated by government’s whistle blower policy; alleviate some of the burdens on the bureau charged with verifying disclosures; and give the public a direct stake in fighting corruption.

    He also said that there should be a transfer of responsibility for oversight of the FOI Act to a depoliticised and autonomous office of Attorney-General, which should be delinked from the political office of Minister of Justice.

    Suberu stated that National Assembly has not passed enabling laws to make public officers’ assets declarations “available for inspection by any citizen of Nigeria” as required under the 1999 Constitution, adding that, perhaps, the right of inspection should have been directly and fully guaranteed under the Constitution, rather than subjected to statutory codification.

    He said: “Code of Conduct Bureau has discouraged publications of assets declarations in the absence of relevant enabling law.

    “Challenges also plague the NEITI framework, where a presidentially appointed, rather than civil society-directed, National Stakeholder Working Group, has focused on disclosures of revenue payments by oil companies to the government, while giving relatively limited attention to transparency in critical areas like licensing, contracting, revenue management, and planning, and budgeting.

    “Consequently, the governance of the Nigerian oil sector remains opaque.”

    In a remark, the Executive Vice Chairman of ISGPP, Dr. Tunji Olaopa stated that corruption in Nigeria’s context was mostly viewed with fiscal lens, adding that: “there is a need to deepen the view by interrogating the issue of political corruption especially as it manifest through the manipulation and exploitation of political institutions.”

    He said the aim of the day’s seminar was to look at the aforementioned issue as well as how political corruption plays out in the deliberate weakening and violation of the value foundation of political institutions “in a nation where the essence of everything including the meaning of eternity where we would all be at the end of time is politicised.”

     

  • Lai Mohammed to Transparency International: We need your support to fight corruption

    INFORMATION and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed has urged the global anti-corruption body, Transparency International (TI) to support, rather than condemn, the Buhari Administration’s fight against corruption.

    ‘’Nigeria has never had a more transparent, more accountable government than the Buhari Administration,’’ the Minister said when he received a TI delegation, led by the Chair of the body’s International Board, Delia Ferreira Rubio, in Abuja at the weekend.

    ‘’As a policy, this government is the most committed to fighting corruption. We need your support in the area of advocacy and capacity building,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said TI and the local civil society organizations affiliated to it have not offered the necessary support to the Administration, adding: ‘’They look at the actions of an aberrant few to condemn the government.’’

    He said when the government disclosed that just 55 people stole N1.34 trillion between 2006 and 2013, and when it published the list of looters, in response to a challenge from the opposition, a section of the civil society was busy parroting the cliché that the allegations were one-sided, instead of supporting the government’s action.

    The Minister also tasked TI and its affiliates to show more understanding for the sociological complexities of fighting corruption in Nigeria, especially because it operates a federal system of government under which the federal government has no control over the actions of the federating states.

    He said the Administration is not just fighting corruption with laws and prosecution, but also with education and inclusiveness in government, citing the government’s ‘Change Begins With Me’ programme as an example of efforts being made to achieve attitudinal change among the citizenry.

    Mohammed said Nigeria is succeeding in its anti-corruption fight because the fight is being led by a President whose integrity is beyond reproach noting: ‘’Even his worst critics won’t say he indulges in or encourages corruption.’’

    He said corrupt persons are using looted funds to mount campaign against the administration, especially in the social media, because they know that the re-election of the President will spell doom for them.

    On her part, the TI global chair said she decided to visit Nigeria, her first-ever visit to Africa, because the country can set the tone for the continent in the fight against corruption.

    Ms Ferreira Rubio said TI’s mandate is to offer support through civil society organizations and the private sector to foster the fight against corruption.

    She said while the government is doing a lot to fight corruption, it should ensure more transparency and more efficiency in service delivery.

    ‘’We are not an opposition anywhere in the world. We are just an NGO working in over 100 countries of the world. We are not enemies. We are here to help,’’ she said.

     

  • Obasanjo to Buhari: fight corruption on your nose

    Obasanjo to Buhari: fight corruption on your nose

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched another attack at President Muhammadu Buhari over his administration’s handling of anti-corruption fight.

    In his latest attack, the former President maintained that Buhari has corruption on his nose.

    In an interview with German international broadcasting outlet, Deutsche Welle, Obasanjo said the President’s anti-corruption fight has been polluted by people in his inner circles.

    Obasanjo said the president could do better on how he goes about the war on corruption.

    He said if he was the president, “I would make sure people in charge of anti-corruption institutions are people of integrity. There is no point in fighting corruption beyond you and you have corruption on your nose.”

    On his newly formed movement, Coalition for Nigeria movement (CNM), the former president said the movement will truly help Nigerians to move away from the old order of politics and into a new age where the interests of the citizens are truly represented.

    He said: “It (Coalition for Nigeria) is not an old wine in a new bottle, but a new wine in a new bottle. I will not stand in the way of that movement if it decides to become a party. But in that case, I will withdraw.”

  • JMPP: we will fight corruption

    JMPP: we will fight corruption

    The Acting Chairman of the newly registered Justice Must Prevail Party (JMPP), Dr. Olusegun Ijagbemi, has said that the party will fight impunity in the mismanagement of national wealth and assets. He said from 2019, any politician that steals government money would be punished.

    Speaking at the party headquarters in Abuja, he said that, after JMPP must have taken over the government in 2019, natural resources and treasures shall become the ‘’forbidden tree’’, to the people in authority. He said: “Our nation has established a new covenant with the Almighty through the twelve (12) pillars of Oath of righteousness to kill all violators which is what will establish fear of God upon all the leaders in our nation, and there would be an all-round rest in Nigeria.”

    Ijagbemi said JMPP is a divinely established revolutionary party, with answers delivered by the Almighty to all national problems. He added: “All JMPP members are expected to be leaders not politicians. He said that politicians pollute the nation with their stolen money to draw the nation backwards while leaders lead with integrity and uprightness to move the nation forward.

    Ijagbemi said JMPP is built on divine revolution, which is devoid of bloodshed. He stressed: “This kind of revolution has perfect justice and judgement. It shall and must totally wipe out corruption and injustice completely, as well as prevent them from existing anymore in Nigeria. This is the revolution that JMPP is determined to embark upon throughout the nation. It is a revolution of peace, love, unity, transparency, accountability, growth and development.

    “This revolution must involve everyone, from the President to the lowest level of leadership. All shall be involved in the barefooted Oath with all the 12 Pillars of the Oath, which are all connected to the three ordinances that lead to the judgement of death, if violated.

    Ijagbemi, the national president of Ikoyi-Obele Development Association (IDA), Ijumu, Kogi State is a former public servant who possesses the attributes of a selfless and responsible leadership. In all his public conducts either as civil servant, community leader and religious leader, Ijagbemi, upheld the principles of honesty, decency, transparency, team work, humility, loyalty, kindness, integrity, diligence, hard work, commitment to the cause of the down trodden, dedication to duty, discipline and total love for educational advancement.

    Ijagbemi said: “I also truly realised that God has blessed me with leadership qualities with a well known mantra of turning impossibilities to possibilities. Being the first born of seven children, the Almighty used me to transform the life of my family from extreme poverty to remarkable affluence. “From my younger days, the Almighty endowed me with leadership qualities and consistently trained and tested me in leadership positions throughout my educational, work and church life, presiding over affairs at several stages whenever I find myself, up till date.”

    Dr. Ijagbemi, a retired diplomat with stints at the United Nations and African Union, is a gentleman and completely detribalised Nigerian who has cultivated lasting friendship with people of proven character from the length and breadth of the country and beyond. Between December, 1994 to 31st December, 1996 Dr. Ijagbemi was posted to the Nigeria High Commission, Nairobi Kenya as the Consular Officer/Liaison Officer to the United Nations office, Nairobi. Between 1997 to 2003, Dr Ijagbemi held the responsibility being Nigeria’s Focal Point on Terrorism to African Union for managing efficient exchange of information on terrorism. He was instrumental to the design of AU Counter Terrorism data collection instrument and the establishment of Counter Terrorism Research Center in Algiers in 2003.

    He is a young man with a towering height who has never hidden the fact that he is at all times ready to identify with the yearnings and aspirations of all Nigerians, this he demonstrated by supporting the educational advancement of those who are not even related to him by offering them scholarships locally and abroad apart from providing educational materials to educational institutions without attaching any reward for the gesture.

    derworld in the town.

     

    An alumnus of Nigeria’s premier university, University of Ibadan, Dr Ijagbemi bagged his first degree in B.sc Hons Geography with second class upper Division in July 1981. His quest for more knowledge took him back to the University of Ibadan for his Master’s degree in Information Science (MInfSc), this he achieved in September, 2001. He later proceeded to the University of Bucharest, Romania where he bagged his PhD in Geography, with a First Class Distinction in 2007.

     

    Dr. Ijagbemi further remarked that everything that is happening now in Nigeria, is for the Almighty’s purpose in 2019. The ongoing sufferings and killings in Nigeria, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in the Almighty’s Agenda of 2019 through Justice Must Prevail Party (JMPP), for all Nigerians are waiting for the manifestation of righteous leaders on the throne. Leaders, not politicians, because all politicians were made to be subject to vanity. Nigerians shall be delivered from all the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of a better Nigeria through JMPP’s leadership revolution.

     

    Dr. Ijagbemi noted that the conventional OATH OF OFFICE (using the Bible and Quran) taken by civil and public servants / political office holders in Nigeria is fake and has not been effective because it always ends with the prayer of grace ‘So help me God’ – which always has been a means of deceit by all previous administrations since independence (and, including the current regime) as it has no judgement and justice attached to the acclaimed Oath.

     

    Dr. Olusegun Ijagbemi concluded that JMPP government will ensure that all leaders both in public/civil service sectors and political office holders in the nation must be bound by the Self Bare-Footed Oath Revolution (SBOR). Therefore this real and original Oath shall be taken bare footed on the earth under the heavenly witness – The Sun, and consecrated by a Christian Priest and a Muslim Imam. This Oath shall be recorded live by audio-visual media coverages which has immediate consequences of death if violated. Therefore, this is the True Oath that all JMPP leaders will embark upon as a collateral which will give confidence to the masses in order to cast their votes for JMPP contestants before taking the Constitutional Oath of office upon their victories. This Spiritual Revolution is the only way out for Nigeria to come out from corruption and injustice, and it’s the only way to restore Nigeria back to her Creator.

     

     

  • ‘We can’t fight corruption in judiciary without financial autonomy’

    ‘We can’t fight corruption in judiciary without financial autonomy’

     Mustapha Ibrahim Imam was called to the Bar in 2003. He is the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ungogo branch in Kano State.In this interview with Legal Editor John Austin Unachukwu, he speaks on law and economic development, legal education, fighting corruption and other national issues.  

    When were you elected chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association ( NBA) Ungogo branch?

    I was elected chairman of NBA Ungogo Branch Kano, on June 13,  last year. The branch is relatively new. It  was created in 2013 by the then President of the NBA, Chief Okey Wali (SAN).

    As chairman of the branch,  what have you done to improve the welfare of lawyers?

    Yes, our branch is one of the beneficiaries  of the  appointment of new Justices of the National Industrial Court.  Our immediate past Branch Chairman,  Hon. Salisu Danjidda, is one the appointees. We really thank God for this appointment. The branch has effectively keyed into the plans of the NBA national for the welfare of our members.

    The Insurance policy is there, the discounts provided for lawyers through the NBA annuity card and so on we have keyed into them for the benefit of our members

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN)  has approved the appointment of 17 judges of the National Industrial Court. What is your advice for the incoming judges?

    My advice  to the new Judges is for  them to see their appointment as  service to the nation and humanity. They should discharge their duties in accordance with the laws of Nigeria  and  the fear of God. Finally I pray for God to assist them in  discharging their duties effectively and efficiently in the interest of the country.

    Law and development have always gone together, how do you think  Nigeria can get out of recession through the law?

    No doubt, law is a fundamental tool for national and economic development.  That is why law has been described as an instrument of social engineering. We have laws that govern  every aspect of human endeavour  including  the  economy and therefore, if those laws are applied and implemented they will really assist the country toward achieving the desired national Development.

    There is no doubt that the laws governing business operations in the country are cumbersome, the process of commercial disputes resolution too slow except arbitration and other alternative disputes resolution mechanisms.

    Court processes are not efficient, registration of businesses are clogged here and there by one problem or the other. Some of our laws relating to business operations are outdated and that is why people have consistently called for the review of the Company and Allied Matters Act ( CAMA).

    The National Assembly can also make some specific laws to regulate some specific areas of the economy to enhance economic development.

    What of recession?

    Economic recession is a global issue that equally affect almost  the entire world and not Nigeria alone. Also, since the fall of the crude oil price at the international market,  a lot of global economies have fallen into economic  recession  especially the countries whose  major sources of income is petroleum like Nigeria. Therefore, we most formulate policies that will assist use in that direction.

    There have been calls  for the diversification of economy,  to develop other sources of foreign exchange for the country than oil, how do you think we can achieve this through  law?

    Yes, as a result of the current situation in the world, I think by now  our  policy makers should focus on diversification of  other areas of the economy such as agriculture and mineral resources. This will make the country not to depend on oil alone as the main stay of her economy. If we can formulate, enact and implement laws that enhance the development of other sectors just like the aforementioned  areas, then, it will enhance the development of other areas of the economy.

     How do you feel about the ongoing fight against corruption in the Judiciary?

    For me,  the government is not ready to put things right in the judiciary.

    The fight against corruption in the judiciary is misdirected, ill timed and unfair to the system.

    What do you mean by this?

    This is because  judiciary as one of the three arms of the government just like the executive and the legislative arms of government. Therefore, they should enjoy financial independence like the other arms of government  as stipulated by the constitution. This should be the first step toward fighting corruption in the sector.

    The budget of the sector should be enhanced, improved and increased well in such a way that the salaries of the judges and other personnel should be improved like that of our legislators. Most of our court infrastructures,  from the Magistrate, Sharia Courts  up to the High Courts of various states of the federation,  are dilapidated and are in need of urgent renovation. In most of the jurisdictions,  particularly in magistrate court and sharia courts, the Magistrate, Khadis,  judges etc use public transport to their various places of work. How do you fight corruption with these kind of inhuman and degrading  situation. Another problem is the  next is the procedure  the appointment  of the judicial officers, this is equally an area of serious concern. The procedure has been seriously compromised. It is only when these issues are properly taken care of  that  you can  talk about fighting corruption in judiciary.

    How  can  we fast-track justice administration and make our courts more efficient in justice delivery?

    The only answer to that is that when we implement the financial independence, we provide an enabling environment, good courts with facilities, employment of qualified staff, good salaries and other allowances etc. And above all, most of our Rules of courts should be amended to suit the current situation. All these will help toward good justice delivery in Nigeria.

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo issued an executive Order  to improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria. What is your reaction to this.

    With respect to our regulatory agencies and service providers in the country at was a good welcome development to the country in general. This is because, with simple and easy policies, that will attract foreigners to come and invest in the country.

    How do you think it will affect different service providers, especially the power sector? 

    It will definitely affect every area of our national life. On critical area of power sector, this is very crucial because when you have a good power sector, it will catalyse economic development. So how do you think this will affect the power supply? This policy will not make power available, but  it will also  create  job opportunities and equally attract investment from foreigners. Generally Speaking, on this sector and more specifically from my state Kano State experience,  the current Company Kano Electricity Development Company ( KEDCO)  which is  handling the sector  is  doing its  best. This is because, since the coming of the current Mnagement of the company  came on board, the Electricity Supply in the zone has greatly improved. Before their coming on board,  people in some areas of the zone spent days, some even  weeks and months without electricity supply. But today, in most areas in the zone, people enjoyed up to one week uninterrupted power supply. I think the management of this Company KEDCO deserves  commendation by the Federal Government and if others should emulate them, then soon Nigeria will be a great country.

    What is your view about the calls for restructuring?

    For me it is the Bad governance that causes the call for restructuring. Since we have constitution which is the supreme law of the country and the leaders will abide by the provisions of the constitution, the rule of law, due process and equity, there will never be any agitation for restructuring. This applied for those with genuine intention about restructuring.  We equally, have another  categories of people that are calling for restructuring because they are being sponsored by those politicians who lost election in 2015. To this categories their agitation will fail because it is not a genuine agitation

  • ‘We need attitudinal change to fight corruption’

    Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon S. O. B. Agunbiade has said Nigerians need an attitudinal change in order to tackle corruption in the country.

    The lawmaker stated this at the sixth edition of the active citizen discourse of the Lagos City Junior Chambers International which held in Ikeja, Lagos recently.

    Worried by the level of corruption in Nigeria, the Federal Government had initiated a whistle-blowing policy as a means of recovering stolen government loot. And to gauge the success of the policy informed the topic of the active citizen discourse of which had the topic: ‘Fighting corruption with whistle-blowing; real or a charade?’

    But the politician who agreed that the ‘whistle-blowing policy’ is real however, was of the opinion that citizens needed to change their attitudes.

    “We do not need to rely much on whistle-blowing to chase out corruption,” he said.

    “What we need most and foremost is for us tochange attitudes. We need attitudinal change.”

    According to Agunbiade, it was disappointing that citizens only started squealing on corrupt persons because of the monetary inducement,

    “Why is the federal government realising so much money already stashed away only when announcement of rewards is attached to it?” He asked.

    “So I want to see whistle-blowing as being helped principally by the greed nature of man. People have been stealing money over the years. People don’t just get bothered about it. You will ask yourself, ‘why are these Nigerians now blowing the whistle?”

    Towing the line of Agunbiade, the Manager, Intelligence, Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police, CSP Nwonyi Polycarp Emeka, also iterated the need for a change in attitude.

    He said: “Traditionally, we celebrate thieves just because they have the money. Even among our civil societies, they’ve been bought over. How do we wake up our civil societies?”

    Nwonyi reiterated that ills in the society could have been eliminated or reduced “if the systems were not bad” and threw the gauntlet back to the citizens in the audience as he asked; “What are you doing in fighting corruption?”

    The policeman added: “Whistle-blowing is a good instrument to move ahead in the war against corruption.”

    According the President, JCI Lagos City,LaoluOwolabi, the event is an active citizen discourse aimed at involving citizens in governance.

    “Every society is run by a parliament of people who sit down and make laws but not every one of us can be in the parliament.

    “But as citizens, we can discuss what affects us. This year, we felt that corruption is in the front-burner,” Owolabi said.

    The active citizen discourse is a regular intervention by JCI Lagos City to invite relevant stakeholders to discuss on topical issues.

     

  • House determined to fight corruption, says Dogara

    House determined to fight corruption, says Dogara

    The nation is determined to fight corruption, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, said yesterday.
    He described the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as the frontline agency fighting corruption.
    According to him, the December timeline set for the completion of the EFCC headquarters of would be met.
    Dogara spoke during an inspection visit to the EFCC headquarters under construction.
    He said: “The president in his inaugural address said he would kill corruption before corruption kills us in Nigeria.
    “The only frontline agency that is charged with the responsibility of combating corruption is the EFCC.
    ” It is only proper that when citizens of other countries and even Nigerians come to where EFCC operates, to see clearly that the environment under which they operate speak to the fact that as a nation, we are more than determined to confront this cancer called corruption.”.
    Dogara said the House would ensure that the timeline set for the completion of the Head office of the EFCC is met by December.
    He added: “Our conviction is that where the EFCC currently operates does not give the good impression to first time visitors in Nigeria or people who come to Nigeria to interface with the agency as it is said that first impression counts a lot.
    “I will be the happiest person to see that the EFCC resumes operation in the new building by December.
    “It is necessary to complete the project in order to provide conducive environment for the Commission and also to show that government was fully ready to eradicate corruption in Nigeria.
    “I am satisfied and motivated. As a parliamentarian it is my joy to see this project completed as soon as possible’’.
    The Managing Director, Julius Berger Construction Company, Wolfgang Goetsch, observed that the major challenge affecting the pace of work was funding.
    “If funds are consistently made available, the project will be completed by December,” he said.
    The Acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, thanked the Speaker for the visit and promised to “leave no stone unturned in cleansing Nigeria of corruption.”
    With Dogara were Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Mustafa Bala Dawaki and Chairman, House Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Mr. Kayode Oladele.

  • Sagay committee unfolds strategies to fight corruption

    Sagay committee unfolds strategies to fight corruption

    After presenting its one-year scorecard for public appraisal and staging a conference on legislators’ role in the war against corruption in partnership with the National Assembly, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) is introducing new strategies to the anti-corruption crusade, reports JOSEPH JIBUEZE.

    The Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) was set up on August 10 last year by President Muhammadu Buhari with specific mandates. The body was set up to promote the government’s reform agenda on the anti-corruption effort and coordinate the implementation plan for all anti-corruption legislation and interventions.

    It was given the role to develop a strategy for the coordination of all components of the anti-corruption and criminal justice reform efforts, promote cooperation between government agencies involved in anti-corruption initiatives and periodically review the performance of anti-corruption agencies and to recommend remedial actions to improve operations, among others.

    PACAC, chaired by constitutional lawyer and civil rights’ activist Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has as its members three professors of criminology – Femi Odekunle, Etannibi Alemika and Sadiq Radda, as well as gender rights’ activist Dr Benny Daudu, civil rights’ activist/Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) campaigner Hadiza Bala Usman and Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, who is the Executive Secretary and whose only membership is full-time.

    The body reports directly to the presidency, the committee presented its scorecard penultimate week before the media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Abuja.

     

    Funding

     

    PACAC is a beneficiary of a $5 million Anti-Corruption and Criminal Justice Reform Fund put together by Ford, MacArthur and Open Society foundations. The fund has enabled the committee function under a dire economy environment and without a Federal Government budget or cabinet in place. The fund is also accessible to other CSOs.

     

    Key activities

     

    It has produced a draft anti-corruption plan which followed consultations with stakeholders during an inter-agency task force workshop, which was sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) in May last year.

    According to Prof Owasanoye, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister Abubakar Malami (SAN), is currently developing a more robust justice sector plan with extracts from the action plan.

    The Federal Government’s anti-corruption strategy involves prevention, sanctions and enforcement, assets recovery, ethical evolution and public engagement, the Executive Secretary said.

    Within a year of its existence, Owasanoye said, PACAC has interacted with stakeholders such as anti-corruption agencies and the judiciary. He noted that the outcome of such engagement is that judges are less eager to restrain anti-graft agencies from investigating or arresting politically-exposed persons for corruption.

    Other bodies engaged by the committee are: the Bar, Organised Private Sector (OPS), CSOs, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as development partners on anti-corruption strategies.

    To strengthen institutions, the committee has staged series of workshops and produced strategy documents including:  the Corruption Case Management Manual (full and abridged versions), Plea Bargain Manual, Corruption Information/Intelligence Sharing Protocol and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Corruption and other Related Economic Offences.

    Others are: the Strategic Communication Blueprint for the Federal Government in the Fight Against Corruption, Assets Recovery Strategy Document, Framework for Management and Administration of Recovered Stolen Assets, Training Manual for Federal Prosecutors on Drafting charges under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.

    Besides producing a draft Bill and Explanatory Memorandum for the Establishment of Special Crimes Court, the committee has advised on improvement of prosecutorial capacity, asset recovery and on reopening of dormant high pro?le cases while fostering inter-agency cooperation.

    In the year under review, PACAC held over 28 capacity building programmes for anti-corruption agencies, the judiciary (judges and magistrates) across the geopolitical zones, the Department of States Services (DSS), Nigerian Customs Services, ministries, prosecutors and professional bodies, among others.

    Acting on its advisory, the Federation Government published N78.3billion, $185,119,584.61; 3,508,355.46 pounds, and 11,250 euros as recovered assets between May 29 last year and May this year.

    It put the funds recovered under interim forfeiture include N126.6 billion, $9,090,243,920.15; 2,484,441.55 pounds and 303,399.17 euros and the funds awaiting return from foreign jurisdictions, include $321,316,726.1; 6,900,000 pounds and 11,826.11 euros.

    The non-cash recoveries include 22 farmlands, four plots of land, 182 completed buildings, 25 vehicles and five maritime vessels.

     

    Knocks for Jonathan

     

    Going by the PACAC’s scorecard, 55 people stole N1.3 trillion from the national treasury in seven years under President Goodluck Jonathan’s watch. The committee accused the former President of tolerating corruption, closed his eyes to graft while his administration fared worse than his predecessors in tackling official sleaze. “Under his (Jonathan’s) watch, corruption brought Nigeria to its knees,” PACAC said in its scorecard.

    Applying World Bank rates, one-third of the N1.3 trillion could have provided 635.18 kilometers of roads, built 36 ultra-modern hospitals in each state, built and furnished 183 schools, educated 3,974 people from primary to tertiary level (at N25.2 million per child) and built 20,062 units of two-bedroom houses.

     

    Challenges

     

    Owasanoye said PACAC faced public apathy in carrying out its mandates. He accused the elite, who should have supported the anti-graft battle, of complicity in entrenching corruption. He also attributed the poor economy as a push factor for graft. The ine?ective application of preventive measures, Owasanoye said, is also a hurdle. For instance, the use of Treasury Single Account (TSA) was said to be encouraging cash transactions in some MDAs to bypass and circumvent the TSA policy . Low budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Justice, PACAC said, also slows down the prosecution of cases.  Other challenges are the negative use of constitutional safeguards, manipulation of fault lines (such as religion and ethnicity) by suspects to ?ght back and undermine government e?ort, as well as weak communication strategy which leaves information gap and escalates speculation and criticism.

     

    Role of lawmakers

     

    On the need for improved collaboration between all arms of government in fighting corruption, PACAC, in partnership with the National Assembly, United Nations (UNODC) and the Africa Development Studies Center, held a two-day national conference with the theme: “Role of the legislature in the fight against corruption.”

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who stood in for the President, said the fight against corruption must be a joint effort based on a “consensus”. He said fighting corruption does not require saints, but an agreement that the consequences of graft in every sector are “grave”.

    He said the fuel subsidy scam, for instance, gulped almost N5 trillion, which was almost the size of N6.07 trillion Budget.

    Osinbajo said: “We have a chance to develop a uniquely Nigerian approach to dealing with this problem. I think it’s important for all of us to be humble and clear-headed enough to understand that a coalition that should emerge from such a consensus is not a coalition of saints, neither can it be a conclave of only righteous men and women bound by ‘holier than thou’ creed. No.

    “What we need is a coalition of reasonable men and women in commerce, in government, or whatever human endeavour, who know that the proposition that corruption does not pay is not merely a moral injunction, but an admission of a grave reality that a corrupt executive, for instance, will destroy all plans for development.

    “That a corrupt legislature will use its legislative and oversight functions to enrich itself and compromise its role of check and balance, and that a corrupt judiciary will sell its power over life and death to the higher bidder and return society to the anarchical notion that self-help is best; that corruption in the capital market or banking system means that we cannot be sure that our investments will ever be safe.”

    Prof Sagay was unsparing of the National Assembly. It accused the dual legislature of not living up to electorate’s expectations, adding that the legislature, which is the first arm of government in a democratic state, is no longer regarded as such.

    He said: “The current low esteem in which the legislature, particularly the National Assembly is held, arises, not from lack of legislative primacy, but from its exhibition of negative values and practices grossly against the interest of Nigeria and Nigerians.

    “The clear impression is created that Nigerian legislators are in office for themselves and not for the populace. The issue of mind boggling allowances is just one evidence of these phenomena.”

    Sagay said for the legislature to play its watchdog role effectively, “its own hands must be clean and its house put in order. A corrupt and self-seeking legislature will not have the credibility and authority to carry out its role as the watchdog of the people. Unfortunately, currently in this country, it is the press that is playing this role of watchdog,” he said.

    To Sagay, the National Assembly has not adequately fulfilled its oversight duties under Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution.

    The PACAC chair said: “In my humble view, the legislature has not lived up to expectations with regard to its oversight functions. It has tended to be deeply involved in acts of corruption which in the process deprives it of the capacity to fight corruption. The latest development, that of budget padding, is an example of this dilemma.

    “In spite of all that has happened in the past, it is most encouraging that the National Assembly has actually taken the initiative to collaborate with PACAC to deliberate on the role of the legislature in the fight against corruption. This is a most encouraging development, marking a turning point in the orientation of our lawmakers towards their duties and responsibilities.”

    But Senate President Bukola Saraki believes the National Assembly has contributed a lot through legislation in the anti-graft fight. To him, Nigeria has a long way to go in the fight against corruption. He called for new strategies.

    According to him, the fight cannot be fought and won on the basis of prosecution of offenders alone but that a greater effectiveness can be achieved by applying preventive measures across the public spectrum.

    Saraki said: “Such preventive measures must include adequate education, ethical reforms and adaptation of technological support systems for better auditing and public procurement systems that help cover loopholes for corruption.

    “For example, in order to reduce the risk of corruption and increase the effectiveness of public procurements, electronic tenders should be used more widely where possible

    “On our part, the National Assembly is ready to continue to use its legislative time and authority to reform key areas of our laws that will strengthen our institutions and give a fillip to the anti-corruption campaign.”

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu believes that budget proposals should be subjected to public hearings which according to him, would reduce the corruption associated with the budgeting process and improve transparency.

    It would also enable the citizens to make direct input, he said.

    According to Ekweremadu, Nigeria is perceived as a corrupt nation partly because its budgeting processes are shrouded in secrecy.

    He said: “We are one of the few countries that don’t subject our budgets to public hearings. I don’t see why Appropriation Bills should not be sent in early by the executive so that the public can contribute.

    “The problem has always been that the executive brings budget proposals at the last minute, usually at the end of a financial year, leaving no room for public input.”

     

    Need for accountability

     

    The PACAC secretary urged the National Assembly to make its budgets public for the sake of transparency and accountability. He said the lawmakers should justify the more than 2,220 per cent increment in National Assembly’s budget between 1999 and 2014.

    Owasanoye said the number of lawmakers has not increased, nor has the salaries of other workers increased, yet their budget rose from N6.9 billion in 1999 to N150 billion in 2014.

    According to him, National Assembly’s budget was N6.9 billion in 1999; N9.9 billion in 2000; N19.8 billion in 2001; N21.6 billion in 2002; N24.3 billion in 2003; N34.7 billion in 2004; N55.4 billion in 2005; N60 billion in 2007; N106 billion in 2009 and N154.3 billion in 2010.

    Owasanoye accused the lawmakers of rubbing shoulders with the executive rather than focusing on their core mandates of lawmaking and oversight duties.

    His words: “The National Assembly, just like the judiciary, does not account to anybody for how it spends money. It’s a big problem. The arm of government to help us deal with that is the legislature.

    “But for several years they’ve been collecting over N100billion, they’ve not accounted to anybody. They have to justify it to us. That is the only way to remove the negative perception that that the National Assembly is corrupt.

    “On constituency projects, which I have no aversion for, in the majority of cases, unless we want to live in denial, a legislator wants to nominate or succeeds in totally hijacking the contract. So, the National Assembly should stop competing with the executive for budget increases.”

    Former Director of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, Prof Patrick Lumumba, who gave the keynote address, said Africans must end the culture of celebrating ill-gotten wealth. He said a person who steals a goat and a person who steals public funds deserve the same treatment.

    According to him, countries such as Botswana, Mauritius and Rwanda, have shown that the fight against corruption can be won. He said if Nigeria successfully tackles corruption, it would rob off on the rest of Africa.

    Lumumba, who is the Director of Kenya School of Law and regarded as one of Africa’s greatest orators, gave his speech for more than 30 minutes extempore.

    He said: “We must create an environment that is hostile for people to participate in corruption. We must ensure that procurement laws do not allow people to steal in accordance with the law. The qualities of laws we enact must therefore be very important.”

    He advocated what he called lifestyle audit for public officers, saying: “Before a public officer builds a house, he should show us the source of funds.”

    According to him, an economy thrives where there is less corruption, noting that Botwana, for instance, recorded budget surplus due to its high level of transparency and accountability.

    Lumumba said: “Institutions must be strengthened. President Buhari is on the right path, but he won’t succeed unless institutions are built. The president will be in office for eight years at most. If there is one good quality corrupt people have, it is patience.  They can sleep for eight years and emerge as monsters in the ninth year.

    “So, strengthen the institutions such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and others because it is only they that can defy time.”

     

    Going forward

     

    PACAC intends to scale up engagements with CSO, citizens,  states and  local government areas to boost anti-corruption  advocacy, work with stakeholders to improve the legal framework and engage in further capacity building  for anti-corruption agencies, MDAs and the judiciary on money laundering and asset recovery.

    It also has a plan to track high pro?le cases and how the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 has been applied towards improved sanctions and enforcement, work towards eliminating corruption in procurement and enhance security of payment, conduct corruption risk/performance assessment  for  MDAs  and anti-corruption agencies, review anti-corruption policy and strategy, among others.