President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed why observers are not taking note of the progress his administration is recording in the fight against corruption.
Mr Buhari represented by the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, at a book presentation by Mrs Farida Waziri, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Abuja on Tuesday, insisted that corruption will be eradicated by his government.
A global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, Transparency International (TI) had in its latest report stated that corruption was getting worse under the present administration.
In the 2019 corruption perception index released by TI Nigeria moved two places down from last year, to rank the world’s 34th most corrupt nation with 146 out of 180 countries. The country also scored 26 out of 100 points, falling by one point compared to 2018.
The group provided possible explanations why Nigeria has failed to improve in corruption perception index despite the government’s declared “war on corruption.”
The reasons includes: Selective rule of law by the government; Backlash against media and civil society damages; Institutionalised corruption in political parties and political integrity; Poor understanding of the definition of corruption and how to tackle it; Anti-corruption legal and policy framework is underdeveloped; Inability to implement recommendations on anti-corruption and Endemic corruption in vital sectors such as oil and gas and defence.
Mr Buhari while addressing the gathering said his corruption war is not being felt because the fraudulent conduct is deep-rooted in the country.
“We must know that corruption is a major challenge of governance and development, which we must all seek to eliminate from our system,” the president said.
“Our administration’s commitment to eradicating corruption has been unwavering and we shall unrelentingly pursue its eradication.
“We have made significant progress in loot recovered, leakages blocked and the arrest and prosecution made. If the impact have not been too apparent to some observers, it is because of the deep root corruption has taken and the extent of despair before our advent.
“Nevertheless, we have received good report and commendation from home and abroad on our success in fighting corruption. With our steady efforts we have great hope that corruption will be eliminated in our country,” he added.
