Nigeria urged to up fight against graft

LAGOS – The chairman of Transparency International (TI), Peter Eigen, has urged Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to intensify his campaign against corruption in Africa’s most populous country.

“If Nigeria does not succeed (in the fight against corruption) who else can succeed?”asked Eigen, whose organisation in a recent report named Nigeria as one of three most corrupt nations in the world. “We have to address individual acts of corruption …This is a necessary approach.Go after these individuals,” Eigen said at a public forum on corruption, organised by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency EFCC, in the Nigerian capital Abuja.He also criticised foreign firms and contractors who “import corruption” into Nigeria through their business dealings.He commended Obasanjo for recently launching a serious crackdown on corruption by sacking or prosecuting suspected corrupt public officers.Former Senate president Adolphus Wabara, education minister Fabian Osuji and Police Inspector General Tafa Balogun, are currently being prosecuted on corruption charges.Eigen (67), a German lawyer and former World Bank official, said that all eyes were on Nigeria, current chairman of the African Union (AU), in its fight against corruption.”Everybody is watching you,” he said at the occasion, broadcast live on national television, monitored here.Former Tanzanian prime minister Joseph Warioba, a renowned anti-corruption crusader, said that there was a “need for a total political commitment” for the fight against corruption to succeed.”In order to fight corruption, there must be a clear and total political commitment.If there is no political commitment, we will not be able to eliminate corruption,” said Warioba, a court judge.”It is not easy to fight corruption if the fight is led by people who got into office through corruption …What Nigeria is doing now will have an impact on the whole of Africa, if it can be sustained,” he said.The president of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Mohammed Lawal Uwais, told the meeting that there was a need for a constitutional amendment of Nigerian law for the fight against corruption to succeed.The opening of the one-week seminar, organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was attended by Obasanjo, ministers, diplomats, local and international NGOs, the Interpol and anti-corruption agencies.The EFFC and a sister agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, were set up to fight graft by the president after the return of civilian rule in 1999 but have yet to win the conviction of a single high-level official.- Nampa-AFP”We have to address individual acts of corruption …This is a necessary approach.Go after these individuals,” Eigen said at a public forum on corruption, organised by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency EFCC, in the Nigerian capital Abuja.He also criticised foreign firms and contractors who “import corruption” into Nigeria through their business dealings.He commended Obasanjo for recently launching a serious crackdown on corruption by sacking or prosecuting suspected corrupt public officers.Former Senate president Adolphus Wabara, education minister Fabian Osuji and Police Inspector General Tafa Balogun, are currently being prosecuted on corruption charges.Eigen (67), a German lawyer and former World Bank official, said that all eyes were on Nigeria, current chairman of the African Union (AU), in its fight against corruption.”Everybody is watching you,” he said at the occasion, broadcast live on national television, monitored here.Former Tanzanian prime minister Joseph Warioba, a renowned anti-corruption crusader, said that there was a “need for a total political commitment” for the fight against corruption to succeed.”In order to fight corruption, there must be a clear and total political commitment.If there is no political commitment, we will not be able to eliminate corruption,” said Warioba, a court judge.”It is not easy to fight corruption if the fight is led by people who got into office through corruption …What Nigeria is doing now will have an impact on the whole of Africa, if it can be sustained,” he said.The president of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Mohammed Lawal Uwais, told the meeting that there was a need for a constitutional amendment of Nigerian law for the fight against corruption to succeed.The opening of the one-week seminar, organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was attended by Obasanjo, ministers, diplomats, local and international NGOs, the Interpol and anti-corruption agencies.The EFFC and a sister agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, were set up to fight graft by the president after the return of civilian rule in 1999 but have yet to win the conviction of a single high-level official.- Nampa-AFP