**Says corrupt practices
spreading like wildfire
**EFCC beats deadline, submits report on recovered assets
**EFCC beats deadline, submits report on recovered assets
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo,
saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, said despite all the efforts so far geared
towards the fight against corruption in Nigeria, including enacting anti-graft
law, the scourge seemed to be worse now than it was in 1999.
Obasanjo spoke at a lecture
on the theme: “The Role of the Church in the Fight Against Corruption in
Nigeria”, at the Convention of Victory Life Bible Church International (VLBC).
However, he said the spread
of corruption had also been aided more by the developed countries that serve as
safe havens for stolen funds.
Obasanjo’s revelation came
just as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Friday, beat
the two weeks deadline for the submission of its report on the assets so far
recovered in the fight against corruption since President Muhammadu Buhari
assumed office.
Obasanjo, while lamenting the
spread of corruption to all tiers of government, said, “Despite all these
efforts, corruption is still thriving in our country. In fact, from the
revelations we are hearing, it seems the situation is worse than what I met on
ground in 1999. The inference is that fighting corruption is not a one-off or
one regime affair; it is an all-time and all-regime affair. If we relent, it
bounces back with vengeance.”
Making reference to his days
as president, the former president said, “During my tenure as a democratically
elected President of Nigeria in 1999, a bill was presented to the National
Assembly on prohibition and punishment for bribery and corruption and other related
offences. I took that bold step then.
“How far has this actually
helped in the eradication or better still, in reduction of corruption in the
country? Unfortunately, the act has continued to spread like a wildfire, from
federal to the states, to the local government level and to other authorities,
even within the educational sector in Nigeria – from secondary to university
levels.
“A student bribing lecturer
for higher grades is corruption. Lower clerics have been found to be bribing
their way through to be promoted even in the ‘house’ of God. Evidence also
abounds in which female staff enjoys unqualified rapid promotion in many
offices and organisations, particularly among the ministries, departments and
agencies (MDAs).”
Citing President Muhammadu
Buhari’s description of corruption as the greatest form of human rights
violation, Obasanjo said, “In 2012, Nigeria was estimated to have lost over
$400 billion to corruption since independence.”
He described corruption as
systematic, and as such must be addressed systematically. Noting that
corruption had been in existence in all strata of ages, Obasanjo said it would
not go away easily but could be curbed.
“Since the creation of modern
public administration in the country, there have been cases of official misuse
of funds and resources.
“The rise of public
administration and the discovery of oil and natural gas are two major events
seen to have led to the increase in corrupt practices in the country. The
government has tried to contain corruption through the enactment of laws and
the enforcement of integrity systems, but success has been slow in coming.”
According to the former
president, “Legislation alone is not enough as they are often breached by those
who make them and those who should implement them.”
He said: “political
corruption is a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria and there is politics
everywhere, including the Church, especially if politics is seen as concerned
with power, status, influence within an organisation rather than with matters
of principle.
“Corruption has been in
existence in all strata for ages and it cannot go away easily but it can be
curbed. We all have our fair share in encouraging corruption but unfortunately,
it is becoming more rampant, in the political circle and in governments in various
countries, particularly among developing nations including Nigeria.”
Alluding to the international
dimension in the spread of corruption in developing and underdeveloped nations,
he noted that Transparency International as a global civil society organisation
leading the fight against corruption has though rated developing countries as
more corrupt, it cannot absolve the developed countries of complicity.
“They are encouraged largely
by some of these developed countries because these regions serve as
opportunistic avenues for hiding or domiciling their ill-gotten riches,
sometimes for greater returns when compared with being in the home or
developing countries,” he said.
Therefore, to effectively
curb corruption, he posited that “children, youth and adults must be given the
power to distinguish between the rights and the wrongs. Schools should return
to the teaching of moral education to empower children with the spirit of
stewardship and scholarship, while adults live exemplary lives, reflecting truth,
kindness, healthy competition, dignity in labour and integrity. It must be all
hands on deck within the society.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered
yesterday that the EFCC met Friday deadline for the submission of its report on
asset recoveries.
President Buhari had directed
the Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu; the Attorney-General of the
Federation (AGF), Mr. Abubakar Malami; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Director-General of the Department of State
Services (DSS), Mr. Lawal Daura; Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices
Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ekpo Nta; and the National Security Adviser (NSA),
General Babagana Monguno; to submit detailed inventories of assets seized,
including funds, vehicles, jewelry and other valuables by last Friday.
THISDAY had exclusively
reported the presidential directive on Saturday. At the time of going to press
on Friday, most of the agencies except the EFCC, had complied with the deadline
given by the president. It was however gathered yesterday that EFCC had also
met the Friday deadline.
Although details of the
reports submitted by the various agencies were not known, THISDAY learnt that
the presidency had began to study the reports.
Source: ThisDay
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