Tinubu determined to fight corruption, Justice minister Fagbemi says
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, says President Bola Tinubu is determined to strengthen the fight against corruption.
Fagbemi, made the disclosure in Abuja while speaking at the United Nations International Anti-corruption Day 2023, with the theme: ‘UNCAC at 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption,’
He said the framework for the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NAC) was focused on five pillars which serve as the driving force for both the public and private sectors.
He listed them to include the prevention of corruption; public engagement; campaign for ethical re-orientation; enforcement and sanction as well as recovery and management of proceeds of crime.
“After a successful election and transition, President Bola Tinubu is determined to strengthen the fight against corruption at all levels and ensure prudent utilisation of resources for sustainable economic growth and development.
“To ensure effective deliverables, my office has been charged with critical performance indicators which will ensure percentage implementation of the NACS and the coordination of mechanisms involved in the anti-corruption efforts. To this end, I signed a performance bond on November 3, 2023,” the minister added.
Fagbemi, who was represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the ministry, Victoria Ojogbane, said the official launch of the NACS 2022-2026 by Tinubu; robust interface with the Governors Forum and activation of the anti-corruption funding framework were some of the activities lined up for immediate implementation.
Also Speaking, Ogbonnaya Orji, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), stated that the organisation had helped Nigeria recover and raise $7.2 billion through years of comprehensive independent reports.
He added that The United States has also reiterated its commitment to working with the government of Nigeria and international partners to reinforce anti-corruption efforts in the country.
Orji said that although Nigeria has made progress recently, the government is still well behind the curve in the battle against corruption, as seen by the country’s score of 154 out of 180 in the most recent Corruption Perception Index (CPI).He claims that corruption continues to be a significant barrier to the extraction industries’ ability to realise the benefits of the reforms outlined in NEITI’s industry reports, particularly in the mining, oil, and gas sectors.
According to the executive secretary, Nigeria is essentially the only resource-rich nation dealing with the particular problems of oil theft, pipeline damage, illicit mining, and daylight theft of solid minerals by foreigners with Nigerian complicity.
The head of NEITI reaffirmed, using its recently published analysis, that between 2009 and 2020, Nigeria lost about 619 million barrels of crude, valued at $46.16 billion or N16.25 trillion, due to oil theft alone.
In addition, Orji stressed that Nigeria lost 4.2 billion litres of petroleum products from refineries, valued at $1.84 billion at the rate of 140,000 barrels per day, from 2009 to 2018.
