CISLAC rates Buhari administration fight against corruption low

By Ene Ipka

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International (TI) has attributed public procurement as the bedrock of corruption which has constituted 70% to the menace in Nigeria.

The Executive Director (CISLAC)/(TI) Mr. Auwal Musa Rafsanjani made this known in a parley with the media on Friday in Abuja, where he set an agenda on anti corruption to advice the Federal Government on key issues to fight corruption in the country.

Auwal stated: “Public procurement constitutes 70% corruption in Nigeria. Public procurement is one of the government activities most vulnerable to corruption in addition to the volume of transactions at stake, corruption risk are exacerbated by the complexity of the process.

However, he called on the prompt inauguration of the National Procurement Council for effective coordination and oversight public procurement functions. Active participation in procurement monitoring; bid opening through its established procurement watch desk; leveraging the Freedom of Information Act in assessing procurement information so that the disregard to the public procurement act will be stopped.

Furthermore, he noted: “Various promises made at the onset of the administration to rid Nigeria of corruption, four years after, Nigeria instead overtook India in the extreme poverty ranking due to pervasive corruption at all levels of governance. 

“The last four editions of the Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index (CPI) are a testament to slow or even stagnated progress in the fight against corruption, with Nigeria scoring 27 out of 100 points in the 2018 CPI, the same score as the 2017 CPI , and ranked 144 as opposed to 148 in 2017 CPI . 

“The score thereby means there was no change in the perception of the state of corruption in the country: Nigeria has not improved in the international comparison in regard to perception of corruption.

“Another area government can be sincere about the anti corruption process is on the Judiciary Reform. We cannot talk on the judicial system when the judicial corruption continues to mend on the banner of our land. The government must embark on the judicial reform by ensuring strict adherence to the rule of Law by the judicial arm of Government to avoid all forms of prejudicial activities. 

“Since Education is the bedrock of every society, the government must deal with corruption in the educational sector. Also, as a matter of urgency to embark on the land reform since land has become a source of income to many Nigerians. It has become one of the reasons why there are many communal clashes, land grabbing, which leads to violent recruitment.

“Security Reform sector is fundamental and non negotiable to keep Nigeria and Nigerians safe. On Security Vote, there should be a ban. It is unacceptable and not accounted for and insecurity has increased.

“Finally on Asset Recovery, if Nigeria democracy and governance must be preserved, the origins of huge assets of Nigeria real owners need to be disclosed.”