The acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has given assurance of the Commission’s commitment to tackling corruption in Nigeria.
He said the anti-corruption fight embarked upon by the Muhammadu Buhari-led government is total and geared towards bringing the nation’s economy back on a sound footing.
Magu made this disclosure on Tuesday, while hosting a team of participants of the National Management Course, NMC, of the Pakistani National School of Policy, NSP, at the Commission’s Head Office, Abuja.
According to him, the EFCC under his watch had upped the ante in the fight against graft with remarkable success.
“We have achieved a lot in terms of recovery of looted funds and properties in the past eleven months more than was achieved in the last twelve years of the existence of the Commission.
“We have had many challenges but for me, my main motivation is the political goodwill we enjoy. My men are determined and committed to work. Most importantly, the government is also ever ready to support us”, Magu said.
The anti corruption czar, expressed delight over the visit saying, “we are encouraged that you deemed it fit to visit us while studying here in Nigeria.”
The EFCC boss also went further to give a brief history of the Commission, an overview on its activities, sucesses and challenges.
He said, “in order to check corruption amongst staff, the Commission created a Department Of Internal Affiars, DIA, charged with the responsibility of vetting intending staff, investigating staff, recieving petitions from the public concerning staff and making sure all members of the staff are men of intergrity.”
Irum Bukhari, a directing staff at the NSP who led the 8-man delegation, thanked the EFCC boss for making out time to recieve them saying, ”we are here because we are interested in learning from the EFCC. We want to know your composition, your success stories, the laws that govern your activities as we are also striving very much in our country to fight corruption, extermism and terrorrism.”
Bukhari expained that, the delegation comprised top civil servants who had served the Pakistani governement for many years and were “here to study and improve themselves in other to handle key positions in the decision making of our country”.
She expressed optimism that the visit would further strenghthen the bilateral relationship of both countries.
Meanwhile, Organized Labour Drums Support for Anti-Corruption War
Comrade Issa Aremu, Vice President, Industrial Global Union, on Monday, identified corruption as a crime against humanity which required concerted efforts of all Nigerians to fight and defeat.
He made the remark while playing host to Magu, who visited the Textile Labour House, Kaduna.
Comrade Aremu who is also the General Secretary of the Textile Workers’ Union said that there was a linkage between the collapse of many industries in the country and systematic corruption, citing “addictive waivers” granted by some corrupt ministry officials in recent past as economic crimes.
According to him, waivers, through corruption encourages mass importation of substandard textile products at relatively cheap prices, undermining local competitiveness, resulting in factory closures and mass loss of decent jobs.
Comrade Aremu also decried the inability of most state governments to pay salaries which he blamed on corruption. He observed that even at $50 per barrel of crude oil, Nigeria is still a rich country, but only if corruption is tamed.
While praising the Buhari administration for its resolve to fighting all shades of corruption, Comrade Aremu said there was an urgent need for the government to adopt a holistic approach in ensuring that the fight was total and not selective.
“The Anti-Corruption Agencies (ACAs) should be empowered to invite anyone living above their means to explain the source of their wealth adding that, if the agencies are unsatisfied with the explanations for the acquisition of such wealth, the person should be charged to court.
Upon conviction, such person should be made to forfeit the entire proceeds of corruption to government”, Aremu said.
He also called for the establishment of a special account to be known as “Infrastructure Development Fund”, IDF, into which all recovered proceeds of corruption shall be paid into.
In his remark, Magu said that more than ever before, there was hope for Nigerians as President Buhari had shown strong political will to kill corruption before corruption kills Nigeria.
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