Pioneer Secretary of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Emmanuel Akomaye, has said that the war on corruption is one that should not be left only in the hands of anti-graft agencies, if it must be won.
Akomaye, who made the assertion at a two-day anti-corruption risk assessment training workshop for government institutions, held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, reiterated the fact that while the agencies have the primary task of fighting corruption, they need the cooperation and collaboration of members of the society.
“The political will and commitment of government and the leaders, to fight corruption has always been a question raised by many, but that is only one aspect of the country’s readiness to rid our society of corruption,” he said.
While describing zero tolerance to corruption as a concerted commitment to respond reasonably and adequately to acts of corruption when and wherever they occur, he said,
“The media, members of the private sector and indeed every Nigerian must equally commit, both in will and resources, to support anti-corruption initiatives.”
The head of the Intelligence and Special Operations Section(ISOS) of the EFCC, Abdul Suleiman, who represented the anti-graft agency’s boss, Ibrahim Lamorde, reiterated the commitment of the agency, to fight corruption with renewed vigour.
“Corruption means more than public officers taking bribes and gratification, committing fraud and stealing funds and assets entrusted in their care,” he said.
“It means the deliberate violations, for gainful ends, of standards of conduct, or ethics, established in private and public affairs to cause wrongful loss to the society and wrongful gains to people in position of trust.”
Suleiman stressed that to bring down the rate of corruption in any nation to a tolerable level, required fundamentally restructuring the country’s mode of production to “one that guarantees the basic necessities of human existence.”
He said, “Such a system should encourage the spirit of cooperation and altruism and not competition or greed.”
The head, Transparency and Anti-Corruption Initiatives of the UN Global Compact, Olajobi Makinwa, noted that it has become paramount for private companies and businesses, to put in place anti-corruption policies as part of their contribution to the war on corruption.
“Every company must commit to fighting corruption, and this can be done by ensuring that risk assessments of various sectors are carried out, with the aim of helping to put in place necessary policies to check corruption,” she said.
The workshop was organized by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, in partnership with the EFCC, The Convention on Business Integrity, Lagos Business School, Siemens and Oando Plc.
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