Senator Iroegbu in Abuja
Transparency International has praised the current anti-corruption efforts of the federal government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The chairperson of Transparency International, Ms. Delia Ferreira Rubio, made the assertion yesterday during a courtesy visit to the new EFCC headquarters in Abuja
Rubio said the anti-corruption body would stand by Nigeria to get rid of the menace of corruption in order to improve the lives of people.
The visit came a few days after the acting EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, emerged the new chair of the Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa.
“We are here to stand by the anti-corruption fighters and also learn from the work the EFCC is doing,†she said.
While offering her support to the EFCC, Rubio, who is visiting Africa for the first time, noted that her choice of Nigeria as a first stop was in recognition of the country’s efforts in fighting corruption.
“I am familiar with the problem and I am familiar with EFCC’s fight against corruption in Nigeria as you are working in a difficult context,†Rubio added.
On his part, the Head of Transparency International Nigeria/Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Mr. Auwal Rafsanjani, also offered the support of Transparency International to help Nigeria in curbing corruption, and commended the EFCC’s exploits in the area of assets recovery.
“Transparency International recognises the efforts of the government under the leadership of the present acting chairman to address the lapses in our policy, party and legislation that make corruption thrive and is interested in addressing the menace called corruption,†he said.
Responding, Magu expressed his gratitude to Transparency International for the visit and its support, promising to continue to put in place measures that would ensure that Nigeria gets better ranking in Transparency International’s future Corruption Perception Indexes.
“We are not disappointed by the Transparency International ranking, we have seen the ranking and Nigeria has moved five points ahead of the previous ranking and we as an institution are doing well and hope to improve,†he said.
He urged Transparency International to work together with Nigeria to understand how the ranking works in order to change the perception of Nigeria as being “fantastically corrupt.
“As an institution, one of our strategies is to improve the country’s image, to encourage investors to come and invest in a very favourable environment and that is why EFCC has not left any stone unturned in dealing with Advance Fee Fraud (419),†he added.
