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Tag: transparency international

  • Transparency International stigmatising Nigeria, says Falana

    RIGHTS lawyer Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) yesterday accused global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) of stigmatising Nigeria.

    Falana said TI spent a disproportionate amount of its resources on highlighting corruption in Nigeria and other developing nations.

    He added that the anti-corruption watchdog ignored western countries, which provide a safe haven for looters.

    According to him, the United Kingdom’s capital, London, is the global headquarters for money laundering.

    The United States (U.S.) and Switzerland followed in its heels, but did not receive the same condemnation from TI, Falana said.

    He spoke in Lagos at a conference on jurisdiction of International Criminal Court (ICC) and cross-border corruption/illicit asset recovery organised by Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA).

    The event’s theme was ‘Situating jurisdiction of ICC over cross border corruption and illicit asset recovery’.

    He noted that the United States (U.S.) has filed a lawsuit to prevent the repatriation to Nigeria about $300 million loot stashed by corrupt Nigerians in the country.

    He also criticised the Swiss government for dictating to Nigeria how loot, which the European country’s banks hid for corrupt Nigerians, would be spent upon its return.

    Referencing the programme’s theme, Falana said looters “can be rightly accused of crimes against humanity”.

    He said: “We can’t do more for now, because the countries that are leading the war, the so-called international community, are the beneficiaries of corruption around the world.

    “Forget what Transparency International (TI) publishes every year and we celebrate, particularly the Nigerian media, ‘Oh! Transparency International has indicted the Buhari government or Jonathan government!’ and we are celebrating it, without challenging the hypocrisy of Transparency International.

    “How come you (TI) only stigmatise the victim countries and not the receivers of stolen money?

    “In our elementary Criminal Law, we all know that the receiver of stolen goods is as guilty as the person who stole the goods. So, if money trickling in from Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Venezuela, all over the world is stolen and invested in the United Kingdom – in fact London is now generally regarded as the headquarters of money laundering in the world, but nobody will agree that the British government is corrupt. It is only Nigeria that Transparency International will stigmatise.

    “We have a duty as victims of corruption to say ‘No to categorisation! You must also blame the countries that are receiving stolen money, because if there is no safe haven for this money, the looted wealth, at the very least, the stolen money will be invested here. They won’t take the money away.”

    He advised the Federal Government and anti-graft campaigners not to expect help in this regard from the international community or governments.

    “You are not going to get any collaboration, any cooperation from the government of western countries.

    “The duty of civil society organisations in Africa is to link up with civil society organisations in the West and other parts of the world and see how such collaborations can expose their own governments,” Falana added

     

     

     

     

  • 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.

     

  • Transparency International’s verdict

    As if by uncanny coincidence, two days after the Dapchi abduction, Transparency International (TI) released its verdict on the anti-corruption war showing that the country, despite the heroic efforts of the administration, actually plunged 12 places down on the overall corruption indices compared with the preceding year when it ranked 136th place. By way of contrast, Kenya, rated as more corrupt than Nigeria in 2016, has now overtaken Nigeria moving from 145 to 143th place.

    Just as one would expect, hierarchs of the Buhari administration have not only dubbed the verdict a travesty, they have gone on the overdrive in the attempt to showcase their achievements in the anti-corruption war. The administration, they insist, has blocked leakages for corruption through the rigid enforcement of the Treasury Single Account (TSA); recovered N738.9 billion was in just two years of the Buhari administration; recorded more than 140 successful prosecutions and signed international agreements to recover the proceeds of corruption and to block the laundering of stolen assets abroad by public officials, and many more.

    While these may be true, the officials, I must insist, miss the point.

    Transparency International’s work is not so much about the substance of the work being undertaken by the countries but more about the perception or what is more appropriately the optics of the anti-graft fight. Whereas the administration can imagine itself as doing the best in the current circumstances, there is certainly a whole world of difference between what it claims as achievement and the perception of the citizens about its efforts. Whereas the administration is wont to show facts and figures as proof of the efficacy of the war, the citizens are rather reminded of its sloppy handling of the fraud allegations against former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA) saga, the embarrassing reinstatement into service of dismissed civil servant and fugitive Abdulrasheed Maina.

    If like most Nigerians, Transparency International appears unimpressed by the administration’s efforts, it could only sum up to the optics trumping the billions recovered.

  • More than 6bn people live in corrupt countries, study shows

    More than 6bn people live in corrupt countries, study shows

    More than six billion people live in countries that are corrupt, Transparency International said in a report on Wednesday.

    More than two-thirds of countries received a poor corruption score in study released on Wednesday, leaving most of the world’s population living in a country characterised as corrupt.

    The global average score of the Corruption Perceptions Index ( CDI ) 2017 by Transparency International was just 43 and 69 per cent of all countries scored less than 50, with 100 being the best possible score.

    “This means over six billion people live in countries that are corrupt,” Transparency International said in a brochure accompanying the release of the report.

    The report also said its findings are “disturbing” and that the majority of governments are moving “too slowly” on tackling corruption.

    The analysis used factors such as freedom of the press, freedom of speech and the freedom of organisations to operate and influence public policy transparently.

    The CDI then ranked 180 countries and territories from 1 to 100 based on perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople: A score of zero is “highly corrupt” and 100 is “very clean.”

    No country got a perfect score but New Zealand tops the list as the “cleanest” country – meaning its citizens perceived little corruption, with a score of 89, followed by Denmark at 88.

    Scandinavian countries enjoy high scores in the top 10 rankings.

    Germany placed 12, behind Singapore but ahead of Australia, Iceland and the U.S.

    Syria, South Sudan and Somalia scored the lowest.

    Transparency International said their results show countries that have low civil liberties also tend to score high for corruption and that corruption is linked to “shrinking space for civil society.”

    Countries that experience the worst corruption also have the least protection for press and non-governmental organizations, the group said.

    dpa/NAN

  • Corruption in a military, a global challenge – TI

    Corruption in a military, a global challenge – TI

    Transparency International on Thursday reiterated its position on the problem of corruption in military establishments across the globe, maintaining that corruption in military procurement was not peculiar to Nigeria, but a global challenge which undermines confidence in state institutions.

    A Senior Advisor with the TI, Mr. Ian Andrews, said corruption in military establishments has become dangerous, divisive and wasteful with far reaching consequences on the state.

    He, however, expressed confidence that the standard raised by Nigerian military institutions based on the approaches adopted by the present leadership would restore confidence and reposition the nation’s military for efficiency and effectiveness.

    Andrews, who spoke at a one day Leadership Workshop organised by the Nigerian Air Force in conjunction with Transparency International and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, supported his submission with developments in military institutions in Indonesia, Columbia, Uganda, Iraq and  other nations.

    He said with such an overview, corruption had become a global challenge that destroys institutions of state and undermines people’s confidence in governance.

    Andrews said: “There is need to build integrity, confidence and resilience as important tools to combat the monster of corruption. This, of course will lead to operational effectiveness. In some countries I mentioned, this is being done and things have really improved.

    “I am happy with your presentation, particularly the steps the Nigerian Air Force has taken to achieve transparency in the procumbent process and build confidence in its relationship with other institutions.

    “What corruption is about today, it is not about exposing issues. It is not about us telling you what you need to do but we are here today to help you to understand the reasons and I learnt from the comments we had with officers. There is a great understanding to the challenge.

    “It undermines the confidence and public trust in the constitution of the state and of the Armed Forces and it is wasteful because too much is spent on a lot of things which do not meet the needs of the Armed Forces.

    “Corruption in the defence destroys the institution of the state and it is a huge global challenge that needs to be tackled. It is also a huge challenge facing the whole world.”

    In his remarks, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, said following the 2014-2015 Report of Transparency International on Government Defence Procurement System, the present leadership of the NAF has carried out reforms to ensure transparency and integrity of the entire system.

    Abubakar, who declared the workshop open at the NAF Headquarters, Abuja, said changes have been effected in the procurement process and procedure within the ambit of the Public Procurement Act 2007.

     

     

  • Transparency International: Nigeria Yesterday and Today

    Transparency International (TI) on Thursday released a report alleging that lack of transparency in defence spending is responsible for the continuous existence of Boko Haram and that some of the measures to be adopted are that no nation should sell arms to the country. The report, prepared in partnership with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), and ominously titled, “Weaponising Transparency: Defence Procurement Reform As a Counterterrorism Strategy in Nigeria,” warned that corruption in defence procurement is a threat to Nigeria’s stability.
    On the surface the report appears like genuine intention on the part of an international “do gooder” that is out to ensure that Nigerians are not short-changed of N380 billion annually by corrupt politicians and greedy military officers who take the money under the cover of military purchases that are either inflated, substandard or non-existent. The true objective of the report is however hidden in plain sight. The real intent was the demand that countries do not sell weapons to Nigeria, which is in itself a secondary or even tertiary agenda as the real reason for seeking to drive Nigeria into a strait is known to only those executing that project.
    To understand the duplicity in the intent of the Transparency International’s report is to recall that it is a rehash of the report of another project manager that appends “international” to its name.

    Amnesty International had in the past, during the US Presidency of Barack Obama, fabricated lies that were packaged as a report to block the sales of military gears to Nigeria. The consequences of that blockade in the Goodluck Jonathan era are well documented; it marked the period Boko Haram grew with lightening rapidity while there were no equipment to fight them.
    The coming of President Buhari’s administration and the appointment of the current military chiefs changed the permutation. Even without the benefit of procurement, they looked inward and rehabilitated existing hardware that were earlier mothballed and deployed same for degrading Boko Haram. Along the line, the tenure of the “moderate rebels” loving Obama ended and a more pragmatic, if overbearing, Donald Trump came and the US again became a willing partner in the quest to defeat terrorism with the approval to sell Super Tucanos aircraft to Nigeria among other approvals that will place weapons in the hands of troops.
    For project managers that have been contracted to ensure the growth of extremism and terrorism as destabilization tools in Nigeria, that development would negate contracts and bring catastrophic casualty to the fighting forces of contrived insurgency. There is no way that is going to be allowed to happen. The one tool that has been used to hound the military from performing, Amnesty International, has been overused to a point where some angry Nigerians wanted it booted out of the country. Hence the quest to hastily find a replacement with a global outlook and a level of acceptance that equals the level of Amnesty International before it became damaged good. Transparency International was the perfect choice and corruption is a good cover for it to continue running the brief without raising red flags.
    But the human factor gave this operation away. To be sure that it has a control of the spin, Transparency International ran the partnership with CISLAC, whose Executive Director, Auwal Rafsanjani conveniently happens to be the Chairman, Board of Amnesty International (Nigeria). So all the terrorist sympathizer did was to change vessels and continue plying his wares as fanatical Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) promoter, not necessarily as a sectarian adherent but as someone who will throw anything into the wheels of the military machinery for the purpose of wrecking it and deliver a sorely needed project to his sponsors.
    The exercise carried out by Transparency International in partnership with CISLAC is therefore a fiasco even before it was presented to resounding rejection by stakeholders. Its content is a reflection of the past as the people guilty of the malfeasance it supposedly documented have long left office with some standing trial. Yet it wants this to be used as a basis to stop Nigeria getting weapons to fight terrorists and the military institutions demonized. In the first place, researchers that arrived at those findings are the type that did not even bother to visit a beer parlour anywhere in Nigeria but chose to be misled by a Rafsanjani who has links to IMN and has been openly favoured any criminal group that has the undermining of Nigeria as its manifesto. He is committed to tarnishing the image of the current administration using fictitious reports and cares nothing how this affects the rest of us that are apolitical.
    Rafsanjani’s Transparency International was silent while the psychotic looting took place under the Jonathan government and only now woke up to Sambo Dasuki’s infractions because it needed an indictment to clock in a milestone. One then wonders why it has decided not to at this point acknowledge the contributions of folks like former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode. Perhaps, a time will come when naming Fani-Kayode’s role in looting Nigeria would come in handy for another project. For now, the focus is to deliberately frustrate and castigate the government’s anti-corruption crusade in recovering stolen funds.
    Choosing to release the report at about the same time the rendering of the midterm report of President Buhari’s administration is expected to be rolled solidifies the suspicion about its dubiousness. The President’s performance, even in the face of setbacks that are out of human control, remains remarkable considering where the country has been, where the country is and the improved potentials of where the country could be in the near term.
    There is therefore no doubt that the Transparency International-CISLAC-Amnesty International report was rolled out by elements that are out to tarnish the image of Nigeria with findings that did not take into cognizance the reforms and measures that have been put in place from May 2015 to date. For instance, there was no Department of Procurement in the Army, but now it must be acknowledged that Lt. Gen TY Buratai introduced the department and issues of procurement are now being prudently handled.
    Considering the sheer bad faith behind the report, the government should not take investigating the motives of those behind it off the table. We must question the motives behind the report and the call for security sector reform which is usually for failed states. Possibly, Boko Haram remains the leading agenda that the owners of the report do not want to end as can be garnered from the failure to acknowledge the tremendous progress recorded to the point that the US Secretary of State asked the world to learn from Nigeria. It could be jealousy over the accomplishments of Nigeria even under the harshest of conditions that were brought about by their failed prediction of destroying the country two years ago. They are now coming out with silly, inhuman and irresponsible recommendations like stoppage of arms sales, denial of visa and travel bans.
    One would only wish the incumbent government would go beyond the niceties of considering the people it is dealing with as deserving the usual courtesies even after they have repeatedly made mincemeat of the country. This band of thugs are determined to down the government and the country with it, which dictates that they should not get the nice treatment anymore.

    Agbese is a an international public affairs commentator and writes from the United Kingdom.‎

  • DHQ dismisses Transparency International corruption allegations

    DHQ dismisses Transparency International corruption allegations

    The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Thursday dismissed sweeping allegations made against the military by Transparency International.

    The Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, dismissed the allegations while briefing journalists at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.

    Enenche said the allegations were false and therefore, should be disregarded by Nigerians and the international community.

    He said the present leadership of the Armed Forces had done a lot to train, boost troops’ morale and procure vital equipment through due process for operations against insurgents in the North-East and other operations.

    He said the DHQ, Army, Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters had established procurement branches that were guided by the rules and regulations of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP).

    He said even the Ministry of Defence was dealing directly with states and governments on defence equipment procurement without using contractors or vendors any longer.

    Enenche said, “On this note, it is suspicious that a sweeping statement of corruption against the military officials at this time is rather disheartening.

    “More so, that the Nigerian Military was on March 22 credited by the United States  as having done very well for fighting insurgency and extremism, among others.

    “Such an allegation came at the peak of consistent success recorded in our areas of operational engagements, especially in the North-East.”

    The director of defence information added that the military operations in the North-East was very obvious not only to Nigerians, but the whole world, hence the allegation must be treated with utmost suspicion.

    NAN

  • Nigeria ranks 136th in 2016 corruption index

    Nigeria has ranked 136th out of 176 countries in the 2016 corruption perception index, according to Transparency International (TI).

    The country ranked 28 in the score, having scored 26 in 2015, 27 in 2014, 25 in 2013 and 27 in 2012.

    TI, in the report, said no country gets close to a perfect score in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016.

    Countries below Nigeria were Guinea-Bissau, Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan, Yeme, Syria, Korea (North), South Sudan and Somalia, among others

    “Over two-thirds of the 176 countries and territories in this year’s index fall below the midpoint of our scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

    “The global average score is a paltry 43, indicating endemic corruption in a country’s public sector,” it said.

    The organisation said elections held across Africa in 2016 provided a good reflection of corruption trends in the region.

    “In countries like Ghana, which is the second worst decliner in the 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index in the region, the dissatisfaction of citizens with the government’s corruption record was reflected in their voting at the polls.

    “South Africa, which continues to stagnate this year, has witnessed the same.

    Joseph Kabila’s Democratic Republic of Congo and Yahya Jammeh’s Gambia, which both declined, demonstrated how electoral democracy is tremendously challenged in African countries because of corruption.

    “Despite being a model for stability in the region, Ghana, together with another six African countries, has significantly declined.

    “The rampant corruption in Ghana led citizens to voice their frustrations through the election, resulting in an incumbent president losing for the first time in Ghana’s history.

    “Some other large African countries have failed to improve their scores on the index. These include South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya. South African President Jacob Zuma was in court and in the media for corruption scandals,” TI added.

     

     

     

  • Transparency crucial to stop corruption – US envoy 

    Transparency crucial to stop corruption – US envoy 

    The federal government can run a more effective anti-corruption crusade if it goes about it in a more transparent way, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer, United States Consulate-General Lagos, Mr. Frank Sellin, said Tuesday.

    Delivering the lead speech at a Media Tweet-a-thon organised by International Press Centre (IPC) with the theme: International best practices in transparency in government and the role of the media, Sellin called for the protection of whistleblowers and provision of the right tools for anti-graft agencies.

    He said: “Transparency is a crucial way to break the chain of corruption. That’s why the US government strongly supports open government.

    “Governments become unstable when they muzzle the media. They become blind to the problems of the people and the solutions.

    Sellin added that corruption affects all countries and Nigeria has to look for its own formula to tackle it.

    One such formula is to make government accountable to the people.

    He said: “When governments don’t answer questions, people will talk about it anyway. Silence encourages speculation without facts.”

    The consular officer recommended that the government should do all it can to defend media and judicial independence as well as limit secrecy.

    “Bad governments,” Sellin said, “survive in the dark.”

    One of the lead discussants at the event, Mr. Martins Oloja, Editor, Guardian Newspaper, said governments tend to hide things, so journalists must stay vigilant.

    He lamented that most of the publications in the media about the $2.1billion arms scandal are based on information released by the government and not what the media obtained by investigation.

    “The health of a democracy depends on the amount of quality information available to the citizenry.”

    Emphasising the place of funding in journalism, Oloja added: “There can be no editorial independence without financial independence.”
    The Director of IPC, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, who delivered the welcome and closing remarks, said the media tweet conference marks the commencement of a one-year Media and Transparency Watch project.

    He challenged the media to go beyond the mere reporting of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC’s) “dramatic arrests to look at the inadequacies in our institutional and legislative frameworks that make it easy for politicians to have unrestrained access to the public treasury and bleed it dry.”

    Mrs. Bimbo Oyetunde, who represented the Chairman, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Lagos State Council, said the Mr. Waheed Odusile-led NUJ will collaborate with publishers to solve the issue of poor welfare of journalists.

    “The NUJ will also introduce a re-certification of journalists; journalists must have a minimum of Ordinary National Diploma (OND),” she added.