Group urges President Tinubu to strengthen anti corruption agencies

From: Femi   Oyelola, Kaduna

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to strengthen key government institutions saddled with the responsibility to deal with financial crimes in the country such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corruption and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

This was contained in a statement from the network and made available to the media in Kaduna yesterday.

The  Executive Director of ANEEJ,  Rev David Ugolor also  expressed dismay over the appointment of a Special Investigator to probe operations of the Nigerian Apex Bank

ANEEJ   a leading anti-corruption watchdog in Nigeria and an anchor of the anti-corruption cluster of the Nigeria Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project, recently  organized a National Anti-Corruption Conference in Abuja which called on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to roll out his anti-corruption plans for the country in a communique that detailed priority areas for the new administration to strengthen the fight against corruption in Nigeria

“We wholeheartedly welcome President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to fighting corruption following provisions of section 15 (5) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and

It is a step in the right direction to foster continuity and sustenance of the Anti-corruption efforts of the previous administration, but we are of the strong opinion that the fight against corruption should not be politicized and perceived as a witch-hunting exercise.

“We are happy that President Tinubu has put the fight against corruption on the front burner and has taken a first step as promised during his campaign.

“We commend the President for the anti-corruption move and urge his administration to extend the anti-corruption fight to other MDAs to sanitize the system and block further leakages not only in the CBN and related Government Business Entities (GBEs) but across all MDAs”.

“ANEEJ recently assessed Nigeria’s implementation of its commitment to the London Anti-Corruption Conference and the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) commitments. Key findings from the assessment report on the implementation of anti-corruption commitments in Nigeria showed that actions need to be taken on several issues. Some laws have been enacted and certain actions need to be taken to drive their implementation.

“There are also pending laws (Whistleblower Protection Bill and Witness Protection Bill) that should be enacted to strengthen anti-corruption work in the country. The recently adopted national anti-corruption strategy also requires action to avoid the shortfalls of the past and the anti-corruption agencies need to be strengthened to be able to handle emerging issues”, Ugolor further stated.