Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
After over seven years of fighting corruption, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, has failed to make appreciable impact in cleaning up the rot in the Nigerian system, a pro-democracy and environmental advocacy group, The Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), has said.
FENRAD) said the anti-corruption war was not making the expected impact due to absence of potency and political will.
The group came up with this verdict following its survey of the nation’s anti-corruption trajectory since 1999 with special focus on the last seven years, when the Buhari government said it has been fighting corruption.
In a statement by the executive director of FENRAD, Comrade Nelson Nnanna Nwafor, to mark this year’s Anti-corruption Day (IACD), which was read by Benedict Anaebo at a press conference in Umuahia, weekend, the group said Nigeria still has a long way to go in winning anti-graft war.
“It is alarming that Nigeria does not rank among countries with low incidences of corruption yet,” he said, citing the Transparency International (TI) 2022 corruption perception index(CPI) report, which ranked Nigeria 154 out of 180 countries.
According to the advocacy group, rather than abetting, corruption has continued to spread, mutate and manifest in various dimensions despite the anti-corruption war of the Buhari government.
“The anti-graft war is being fought on two fronts, waged by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“Under this administration, issues of corruption like oil theft, subsidy scam, vote buying, budget padding, trading in influence and sundry corrupt practices bedevil Nigeria and Nigerians.
“Both public sector and private sector corruption increased in an unheard of scale in the last seven years,” the group said, adding that corrupt officials now use ridiculous tactics not only to cover their tracks but also to evade justice.
According to the group, “Animals like rodents, reptiles and primates were reported to have swallowed monies conveniently stashed in official vaults,” stressing that, “perceived corrupt officials being questioned by lawmakers slump, are rushed to hospitals and cases closed or are discontinued”.
While noting that Buhari has not helped matter, following his granting of pardon to “convicted former governors, and even extending such clemency to terrorists,” FENRAD stated that the Buhari government appears overwhelmed by the corruption monster hence it has invented excuses, telling Nigerians that “corruption is fighting back”.
