The Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), has maintained that corruption is one of the biggest impediments to national development in the country, describing the act as illegal and illegitimate.
Malami stated this at the retreat on Open Government Partnership in Kaduna with the theme: “Promoting Transparency and Accountability through the Open Government Partnership” disclosed the retreat is to fashion out a two-year National Action Plan (NAP) to mainstream transparency mechanisms in the management of public funds across all sectors and citizen engagement.
“Corruption remains one of the biggest impediments to national development. It is illegal and illegitimate. It concerns actions that are often clandestine and practices that those who perpetrate it always try to conceal. Numerous scholars insist that many of the political, social and especially economic problems we face in Nigeria are still traceable to the problem of corruption”, Malami insisted.
According the AGF, the obligations of the Federal Government includes promoting efforts to prevent the facilitation of corruption through partnership and information sharing, implementing transparent public procurement and fostering programmes that will drive out the culture of corruption and institutionalize integrity in the institutions, while building on technology as a core pillar for engagement.
To secure the requisite high level buy-in from stakeholders required for effective implementation; government has launched a robust consultative process aimed at identifying national priorities towards the preparation of the National Action Plan (NAP).
“So far, the federal government has set up an OGP National Steering Committee, with the Federal Ministry of Justice as the coordinating ministry. This Committee is made up of representatives of government, civil society organizations, organized private sector and professional associations who will work together to co-create a two-year National Action Plan (NAP) to deepen and mainstream transparency in the management of public funds across all sectors.
“The Steering Committee will function as a platform for deepening government’s anti-corruption reforms. Using a multi-stakeholder approach, it will work towards encouraging improved openness and transparency in government as well as citizens’ participation and engagement.
“From the government side, the fight against corruption cuts across every sector and as such, all agencies are expected to work towards ensuring openness in their processes as well as developing a sense of accountability and responsibility towards the citizens.
Malami further stated that: “The retreat is coming up following Nigeria’s formal acceptance as OGP member country in July 2016, two months after President Muhammadu Buhari, attended the Anti-Corruption Summit organized by the government of the United Kingdom in May, 2016 where he reaffirmed the Nigerian government’s commitment to strengthen anti-corruption reforms and bring integrity to governance through leadership by example.
