The federal government has vowed to ensure that corruption doesn’t become an acceptable way of life in the country, this is as the administration has vowed to fight the society ill to a standstill.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, made the vow, Tuesday, in a keynote address at a one-day National Policy Dialogue on “Anti-Corruption Performance in Nigeria (1999-2024): Successes and Challenges”, organised by Centre for Media Policy and Accountability (CMPC), in Abuja.
The AGF, who was represented by Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), said corruption will not be legitimised in the country, but will be fought with all means possible.
Accordong to Fagbemi, corruption was a major obstacle to national development.
“It was a former president of this country that said that if we don’t kill corruption, it will kill Nigeria. The Supreme Court has adopted this sentence in its recent decision that was handed down two weeks ago where the Supreme Court pronounced in the legality of the Independent Corrupt and Other Offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Finacios Crimes Commission (ICPC) and the NFIU.
“The convener of this event said during his opening remarks had told us that one of the anti corruptiion agencies made a giant stride in the recovery of over 700 units of properties in Abuja recent. And that while this is commendable the coverner was of the view that their partners in other jurisdictions may look at that as presence of corruption in our domain.
“Permit me to say that there is no nation in the world that is free of corruption. What is important is does the system condone it? Does the system try to nip it in the bud? What I can say is that in Nigeria corruption will not be legalised,” he declared.
The AGF urged the anti-graft agencies to tell their success stories to tne public inaddition to discharging their statutory mandates of investigating and prosecuting corrupt individuals and groups.
Speaking further the AGF disclosed that his office was working on a National Anti-Corruptiion Policy focused on prevention of corruption in order to reduce enormous resources that were usually expended for investigation and prosecution of corruption cases.
Earlier, The Executive Director, CMPA, Dr. Suleman Suleman, said the National Policy Dialogue on Anti-Corruption Performance in Nigeria: Successes and Challenges was a major part of the centre’s Nigeria Anti-Corruption Performance Public Reporting project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation.
“The NAPPR Project, as we call it, seeks to strengthen how Nigerian anti-corruption agencies report their performance to themselves and to the Nigerian and global publics. It also seeks to strengthen how civil society organizations and the media monitor and report the performance of the anti-corruption agencies, particularly thee EFCC, ICPC, and CCB,” executive director stated.
On his part, the Chairman of ICPC, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, emphasised the need for effective collaboration between the various anti corruption agencies in the country.
He said effective collaborations among the agencies could save time and resources in investigating and prosecuting corruption cases.
“We also need the media to help tell our stories in better ways. The media should not focus on when we make recovery of proceeds of crime or convictions, it should tell the public about all our efforts, especially in the areas of prevention,” Aliyu stated.
In his remarks, the Director of MacAthur Foundation West Africa, Dr. Kole Shettima, said the foundation was committed to contributing to Nigeria’s-led afforts to fight corruption.
“We truly believe that corruption is a national problem and only the national institution and the people that can actually lead the process,” he said.
