Fight against corruption is alive, strong as ever – Lai Mohammed
By CHIMA OKONKWO
TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE HON. MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND
CULTURE, ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED, ON THE ADMINISTRATION’S FIGHT AGAINST
CORRUPTION…IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY JULY 28TH 2020
Good afternoon gentlemen, and welcome to this press conference
2. As you are all aware, Nigerians have recently been inundated with
allegations of monumental corruption in a number of government
agencies, including the NDDC, NSITF and the anti-corruption agency,
EFCC.
3. Many, especially naysayers, have misinterpreted these
developments as a sign that the Administration’s fight against
corruption is waning. In fact, the main opposition PDP has latched on
to the developments to call for the resignation of Mr. President, a
call that is nothing but infantile!
4. Let me state here and now that the fight against corruption, a
cardinal programme of this Administration, is alive and well.
President Muhammadu Buhari, the African Union’s Anti-Corruption
Champion, who also has an impeccable reputation globally, remains the
driver of the fight and no one, not the least the PDP under whose
watch Nigeria was looted dry, can taint his image or reverse the gains
of the fight. Anyone who disagrees that the anti-corruption fight is
alive and well is free to dare us.
5. What the revelations of the past few weeks, especially the
investigation of the nation’s anti-corruption Czar, have shown is that
this Administration is not ready to sweep any allegation of corruption
under the carpet; that there is no sacred cow in this fight, and that
– unlike the PDP – we will not cover up for anyone, including the
members of our party and government, who faces corruption allegations.
Our fight against corruption is blind to party affiliation, position
in government and any other consideration. If the nation’s
anti-corruption Czar can be investigated, then the fight against
corruption cannot be deemed to be fake, neither can it be said to be
waning.
6. I am not prepared to go into the details of the various
corruption allegations – whether at the NDDC, NSITF, EFCC or any other
agency – because they are all still under investigation. However, I
wish to state that the allegations of corruption in NDDC, for example,
are not new. What is new is the speed and seriousness with which this
Administration has tackled, and is still tackling, the allegations.
Had such attention been paid to the running of the NDDC by previous
Administrations, the Commission would probably have avoided its
present predicament. Is it not a sad irony, then, that those under
whose watch the alleged freewheeling spending by the Commission
started are now the ones accusing those who are cleaning up after them
of corruption?
7. As I said earlier, this Administration’s fight against corruption
is as strong as ever, and we have the records to back up this claim.
This Administration has recorded over 1,400 convictions, including
high profile ones, and recovered funds in excess of 800 billion Naira,
not to talk of forfeiture of ill-gotten properties. This is no mean
feat.
8. Remember, gentlemen, that the fight against corruption is not
about loot recovery or convictions alone. We are also putting in place
enduring institutional reforms that will deter acts of corruption.
Here we are talking about the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the
Whistleblower Policy, the expansion of the coverage of the Integrated
Payroll Personnel and Information System as well as the Government
Integrated Management Information System and the Open Government
Partnership and Transparency Portal on Financial Transactions, among
others.
9. Let me also mention the ICPC’s Constituency and Executive
Projects Tracking Group, aimed at tracking
performance of publicly-funded projects, and the Commission’s
escalation of the use of administrative sanctions in the public
service by periodically submitting, for sanction, names of public
servants who are being prosecuted. There is also the review of the
personnel and capital fund expenditure of MDAs.
10. Therefore, those who are celebrating the so-called waning of the
Administration’s anti-corruption fight are engaging in wishful
thinking, and are not looking at the full ramifications of the fight.
11. Let me end this press conference by quoting what Mr. President
said on the fight against corruption in his speech marking the 59th
independence anniversary of the country: ”This Administration has
fought against corruption by investigating and prosecuting those
accused of embezzlement and the misuse of public resources. We have
empowered teams of prosecutors, assembled detailed databases of
evidence, traced the proceeds of crimes and accelerated the recovery
of stolen funds….The policies that we are putting in place today are
to ensure such criminal and unpatriotic acts do not go without
consequences.”
12. Gentlemen, there is no better expression of the Administration’s
commitment to the anti-corruption fight than this statement, which is
as true and relevant today as it was in 2019! I thank you for your
kind attention.
