‘NASS Working on Several Bills that would  Strengthen War against Corruption’

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, Hon.  Kayode Moshood Akiolu, has said that the members of the 10th National Assembly are working on several bills that would soon become laws towards strengthening the war against corruption in the country. 

Speaking with newsmen in Ilorin on  the sidelines of the one-day roundtable engagement with State Attorney General in the North Central on Strengthening the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission(ICPC) capacity for corruption prevention, Hon. Akiolu  stated that by the time the members of the 10th Assembly complete their workings on the bills and  are passed into laws , the corruption practices among Nigerians  would be a thing of the past.

Hon. Akiolu said: “There are several bills that we are working on in the 10th National Assembly that would soon become laws in the Assembly.”

“By the time the bills become laws, the war against corruption in the country would be of a thing of.the past in the country.”

He also said that the present Assembly has increased the budget allocations to the anti-corruption agencies in the country so as to help them fight corruption.

Hon. Akiolu  said: “The budget allocations to Anti-corruption agencies are nothing to write about before this present 10th Assembly but thank God now that the allocations have been increased for their day-to-day operations include the welfare of staffs among others”.

He noted that, “You cannot  expect the anti-corruption agencies to perform well when the allocations meant for their operations and welfare of staffs are not well funded and since the national assembly had increased their funding, then, they will be able to perform well against corruption in the country.”

He therefore, said that the conference was convened to seek the collaboration with the state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justices in the North Central so as to advance the way out of corruption in the country.

Earlier, the Chairman of ICPC, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu SAN,  explained the reason the commission largely adopted the strategy of preventing Nigerians from committing corruption, saying that it’s  because it’s less costly and more strategic .

According to him, “the reason why we focus more on prevention is that one, it is more strategic, it is less costly and also help us in retaining our resources.”

“If you allow the corruption to happen, it will be difficult for you to cure especially when there are issues around litigation and we know how the judicial system in Nigeria is.”

“It is too slow because of many cases, that is why we have this approach, let us prevent this thing from happening if it happens, we will know go for enforcement, that is investigation and thorough prosecution.”

 He, however, explained that  the roundtable engagement of the ICPC and body of  Attorneys-General across states of the federation  was formed as a necessary tool for success, in their shared pursuit of justice and the need for the continuity and reassessment of efforts in the fight against corruption, as criminal trends evolve and national events unfold. 

He said he was delighted to see the level of commitment shown by the Attorney-General of the North-Central region towards fulfilling their undertaking from the last conference in Abuja, stressing that, “this collaboration encompasses the 1st, 4th, and 5th pillars of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2022-2026, has the potential to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy, and push the country a step closer to achieving its development goals.” 

He also noted that the essence of the partnership, “ is to strengthen relationship and see how we can work closely together to prevent corruption which we know is one of the major problems this country is facing.”

He also charged the attorney generals to make the best use of expertise, collaboration and coordination because of the complexities and resilience of corruption.