Executive Secretary Presidential Ad-hoc committee on corruption, Prof. Saddiq Isah Radda, has said Nigeria is currently losing a huge sum of money to multi-national corporations as a result of illicit financial outflow accentuated by sharp practices in high places.
Speaking at a one day seminar with the theme; imperative of State Anti-corruption Agency: Kano State as a case study, organized by Human and Environmental Development Agency (HEDA), a Non-governmental Agency held in Kano yesterday, Radda stated that the damage being inflicted on the nation’s economy was most disturbing at the time the Buhari administration was fighting graft with vigour.
According to him, no nation could ever survive the challenge of fighting corruption without a holistic approach on the part of those who were supposed to assist the Federal Government in putting the required mechanisms on ground adding that the multi-national corporations benefitting from the illicit financial outflow were made to enjoy such a considerable leverage on the prodding of some unpatriotic citizens.
Radda who is also a renowned economist and University lecturer however stated that it was the responsibility of governors under the aegis of the All Progressives Congress(APC) to rise to the challenge of supporting the Federal Government to stem the hydra-headed monster of corruption that had eaten deep into the body fabric of the nation stressing that governors on the fringe of opposition were not expected to make concerted effort in waging the fight due to seeming ideological differences.
He pointed out that with the illicit financial outflow properly checked, the Nigerian economy would wax stronger in the face of competing demands and expectations positing that strangulating the economy with impunity could only spell doom for the well-being of the country.
He further revealed that fighting corruption had been the known and cherished mantra of President Muhammadu Buhari, who on coming on board effected some giant strides in making the crusade formidable and realistic stressing that his degree of commitment and high devotion to the course had demonstrated his resolve in rescuing Nigeria from the ropes of one of the most corrupt country in the comity of nations.
Speaking in the same Vein, a renowned academic, Prof. Shehu Abdullahi tasked, the media on the need to strengthen the culture of investigative journalism as a way of checkmating the excesses of corruption affirming that it was a herculean task for media practitioners to join the crusade of fighting graft in the corridors of power and other places where such propensity exists at the expense of the economic survival of the nation.
In his keynote presentation, Chairman Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission, Alhaji Muhuyi Magaji Rimin Gado said fighting corruption in a democratic setting , is a herculean task that must be fought with resilience, courage and devoid of fear or favour lamenting that one is confronted with certain pressure and exhortations of those who may wish to influence the course of investigating high profile cases.
