Tony Ailemen, Abuja
Heads of anti- corruption agencies of Commonwealth countries in Africa will next week gather in Abuja to review the continent’s anti-corruption strategies at the 8th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa.
BusinessDay gathered in Abuja at the weekend that Nigeria was selected as hosts of the 5five- day conference following the successes recorded by the country in the fight against corruption.
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to declare the meeting open and deliver the keynote address at the opening ceremony of the conference that will attract the likes of Patricia Scotland, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and former South African President, Thabo Mbeki, according to statement signed by the Spokesman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) Tony Orilade,
Corruption has been identified as the greatest hindrance to the continent’s economic advancement with 21 African countries taking the rear seat as the most corrupt countries in the world according to the 2018 ratings by the Transparency International ( TI)
The report which was released in February this year, shows that Nigeria is 148 out of 180 nations on the world index, on a rating of 1 to 180 where 180 stands for country with the worst perception.
Transparency International declared that Corruption Perception worsened in Nigeria in 2017 as against the situation in 2016 when the country was rated 136 out of 180 countries.
The meeting will be used to assess strategies, challenges, as well as evolve new ways to battle corruption in the continent
