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Nigeria: Govt to Appoint Corruption-Monitors, As World Bank Pledges Assistance
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Nigeria First (Abuja)
15 January 2008
Posted to the web 15 January 2008
Abuja
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has said in the bid to strengthen the current war against corruption, Government will appoint and train corruption monitors to check the activities of all public officials and expose any underhand activities.
President Yar'Adua disclosed this on Tuesday January 15 while responding to the remark by the visiting World Bank Vice President for Africa, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili that the perception within the international community is that Nigeria is slowing down on the war against corruption.
The President, who admitted he was aware of the perception in the media, said his administration is ready to wage a serious and sustainable war against corruption and would live by example with his own conduct and activities subjected to close monitoring.
He said those appointed will study the United States' anti-corruption operations and the Chinese model where officials monitor the flow of suspicious assets and corruption activities by establishing information sharing systems among judicial prosecutors, courts, the police and banks.
According to President Yar'Adua, activities of all officials in all sectors of the economy will be monitored and information shared with relevant departments, thereby helping to find and expose corruption as early as possible.
The President said corruption must be fought at multiple levels, because it is "a manifestation of disrespect for the rule of law and due process, especially among those who have leadership responsibilities", adding that "you must tackle the system and leave no room for people to be tempted. That way, anybody who engages in corrupt activities knows he is putting himself on the line".
The President said a regime of corruption monitors would put paid to a practice "where public officials use proxy companies to award contracts to themselves and in the process amass ill-gotten wealth whose sources they cannot explain".
He expressed concern that one of the factors causing corruption in the country is the absence of planning, adding "without planning, you cannot set targets, objectives and time lines, and this gives room for corruption, because nobody is ever held accountable for uncompleted or abandoned projects for which additional resources must be provided for completion".
President Yar'Adua told the World Bank officials that all the anti-graft agencies have been given free hands to carry out their functions without hindrance.
"I have given all the institutions a free hand. I have told them I won't interfere, because I am strongly in support of the fight against corruption. No hurdle has been put on their paths. The only thing I have made very clear is that they must follow the rule of law and due process", he stated.
Describing corruption as a "cancer that destroys society", President Yar'Adua said the insincerity of leaders at all levels also contributed to corruption, and challenged all those holding public trust to lead by example.
He appealed to the World Bank to help, especially with multinationals who, he said are major contributors to corruption in Nigeria.
Earlier, Mrs. Ezekwesili had expressed readiness of the World Bank to provide technical assistance to Nigeria in the area of power sector and provision of other critical infrastructure.
She told the President that Nigeria had received over $2billion as part of the partnership activities and support in the past eight years, and spoke about the Bank's delight that the Administration had continued with the reforms. The World Bank Vice President also drew attention to the need to sustain the current macro-economic stability and improve infrastructure.
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Mrs. Ezekwesili assured President Yar'Adua that the World Bank was interested in checking both "givers and takers" in the corruption battle and pledged more assistance to Nigeria.
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