The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership says President Muhammadu Buhari’s approach to the fight against corruption is not different from that of his predecessors.
Buhari’s predecessors are Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007); Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua (deceased) (2007-2010); and Dr Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2015).
In a statement on Tuesday by its Media and Publications Officer, Toyin Odofin, the group said it aligned with the submission made on Thursday by the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, that corruption was Nigeria’s greatest problem.
The group said it shared Magu’s view that the gross underdevelopment in Nigeria and the continent was rooted in corruption, because the resources that should have been used for public good were being cornered by a few individuals.
The statement quoted CACOL’s Executive Chairman, Mr Debo Adeniran, as calling on both the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission to be “more total and pragmatic in the fight against corruption to root the orgy of corruption completely out of the country”.
Adeniran added, “The current government’s fight against corruption must be reviewed to make any tangible impact.
“The fight against official heist under the Muhammadu Buhari government has been just same way of its predecessors since 1999, in terms of scope and width of operations and too discriminatory to achieve the ultimate goal of dissuading office holders from their seeming pathological attachment to corruptive acts.
“This is without any prejudice to the courage and greater resolve so far shown by this government in tackling the menace like the Single Treasury Account, whistleblower policy, among others, which are no doubt, very bold and unprecedented steps towards stemming the tide of corruption.
“However, as good as all these measures sound, they amount to little or nothing if in prosecuting this historical fight, some government officials are still seen to be ‘untouchables’”
CACOL reiterated its call that the EFCC and the ICPC should “be completely insulated and divorced from any official control and manipulations, latent or crystal clear”.
It said, “Anything short of this could only be tantamount to psychedelic hibernation, no matter how well-intentioned the government seems to be.”
SOURCE: PUNCH
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