Abuja — Vice President Namadi Sambo has identified corruption as the greatest enemy of national development. Sambo said that unless it was contained, it could reverse any gains made in the direction of national progress.

He spoke during a briefing session he had with Chairman and members of the Code of Conduct Bureau at the State House yesterday.

According to him, "Corruption is a cankerworm and social vice comes in different forms such as telling lies, disrespect to elders and constituted authority and the amplification of negative differences in religious belief."

He frowned at the worsening institutional corruption and advised the Code of Conduct Bureau to address the menace.

Sambo observed that, as a country faced with the huge challenge of provision of adequate infrastructure, its annual income falls far below the ability to achieve that objective.

According to him, "The need therefore to take pragmatic steps to raise resources that will assist in addressing the issues of funding and project completion is expedient." The Vice President said in pursuit of that objective, "We are employing international best practice avenue to develop our infrastructure need."

"Resources must be mustered to meet the requirements of organizations like the Code of Conduct Bureau," he stated.

He pledged to look into the Bureau's requests for befitting office accommodation, vehicle and funding. Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Mr. Sam Saba had earlier expressed the readiness of the Bureau to address its core mandate of ensuring the highest sense of morality and standard in the running of government affairs.

He expressed the Bureau's resolve to "key into government affairs and to verify assets of public officers and review the declaration of such assets for public accountability and morality."

He said that the Bureau was hampered by some challenges such as inadequate funding to enable them conduct its duties of asset declaration by public office holders as well as verification and investigation of the same; lack of vehicles for investigation and supervision; and lack of proper (befitting) office accommodation.

Members of the delegation included Dr. Ademola Adebo, Mr. Ibrahim Manzo, Dr. (Mrs.) Christy Ekejo, Mr. Okechukwu Nidadinobi and other top management officers of the Bureau.