SAN FRANCISCO, May 01, (THEWILL) – A former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has called for the independence of agencies involved in the fight against corruption, stating that this will guarantee the strengthening of their operations.
This was as he suggested that anti-graft agencies in the country should be under the supervision of the National Assembly.
Atiku spoke while delivering a lecture entitled, “Good Governance and Development: Notes on Nigeria,” at the 2nd Annual Convention of the Abia State Medical Association Alumni Association, UK, held at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Dartford, London.
He pointed out that corruption-fighting agencies would do better if granted financial autonomy through their inclusion among institutions on the first-line charge.
The ex-vice president said for the anti-corruption war to achieve the desired results, the focus should be on crime prevention through the removal of the opportunities that promote corruption.
He equally posited that good governance, which he described as a prerequisite for development, required adequate planning because it was beyond managing day-to-day governance issues.
Part of his speech reads, “Good governance in Nigeria will include a relentless effort to curb corruption in public life. And this should not be merely dealing with corruption after the fact.
“Perhaps, more important are the efforts to prevent corruption from taking place, especially through the removal of the opportunities for corruption and imposing strong sanctions for the corrupt.
“Such efforts should also include ensuring the independence of the anti-corruption agencies through such measures as funding them through the first-line charge in the consolidated revenue fund and having them report to the parliament.”
