The Federal Government
has called for more support from Nigerians for the efforts aimed at recovering
stolen funds from persons that looted the nation’s treasury.
The call was made by the
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday, October 18, 2016, while addressing
participants at a 2-day National Conference jointly organised by the
Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, PACAC and the National
Assembly.
The programme with the
theme, “The Role of the Legislature in the Fight against Corruption in Nigeria”
offers a platform for participants to brainstorm on how to tackle corruption in
the country.
Declaring the conference
open, Osinbajo lamented the state of corruption in Nigeria adding that,
“Nigeria stands the risk of perpetually remaining under-developed if nothing is
done to stem the tide of corruption.”
He appealed to Nigerians
to team up with the Federal Government in its effort to rid the nation of
corrupt .
Also speaking, the Senate President, Bukola
Saraki said the anti-corruption fight embarked upon by the Buhari-led
government should not just be a mantra or a tool for political witch-hunt but
should be a collective responsibility of everybody to rid the country of
impunity and hardship.
He said, "in order
to succeed this time, we cannot afford to make the fight against corruption a
simple matter. We cannot afford to make it a chase in the dark. It must be
rooted in effective strategy and demonstrative plan.”
In his keynote address,
a former Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, Patrick Lumumba,
recommended severe sanctions to deter corrupt persons.
The Chairman of the
Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay, berated
the legislature for its failure to fight corruption just as the Chairman Senate
Committee on Anti-corruption and Financial Crimes, Chukwuka Utazi enjoined the
stakeholders to aggregate towards institutionalizing preventive mechanisms.
He added that,
"however, we recognize that prevention is no substitute for sanctions.
Every society must deter derelictions. That is why the current focus on
investigation, indictment, prosecution and conviction should continue in view
of the realities of the Nigerian nation".
Ibrahim Magu, acting
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, who spoke
through David Tukura, Deputy Director, Directorate of Planning, Policy and
Statistics, emphasized the need to review certain laws in line with
international best practices.
The EFCC boss also
advocated for a percentage of assets recovered by the EFCC to be given to the
Commission saying, "one of the issues that concern us in the EFCC is the
issue of non conviction based recovery. It is of great concern to us, that the
burden is on us to prove in court that, this is a proceed of crime, while in
other climes the accused has to prove that the property he has, actually
represents the fruit of his labour. There is the need for the Act to make a
provision for an application of the proceeds of crime into recapitalizing the
anti graft agencies.”
According to him, “in
some jurisdictions like the UK proceeds of crime are further used to strengthen
the agency. In EFCC, we have been struggling for years to build our
Headquarters and when I think of the billions of naira we recover, I can see
what would have happened if we are allowed to apply a percentage of this
recovery into our operations.”
The two-day conference
which ends tomorrow, will among other subjects examine the role of the
legislature as the champion of anti-corruption reforms, reform of the
anti-corruption legal framework and compliance with international standards.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media &
Publicity
18th
October, 2016
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