The Presidential advisory committee against corruption (PACAC) and key stakeholders in the fight against corruption in Nigeria and across Africa have called on all nations in the continent to strengthen collaboration in order to effectively curb corruption.
This call was made during a virtual dialogue to mark the 5th African Union (AU) Day of Anti – Corruption in commemoration of the adoption of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC), on Wednesday with the theme “Regional Economic Communities: Critical Actors in the implementation of African Union Convention on Prevention and Combating Corruption”.
The event was organized by PACAC in collaboration with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
Itse Sagay, chairman, PACAC while reiterating that corruption is the root cause of some the social problems that the world is grappling with, decried that Africa is the worst hit.
This, according to him is evidenced in the number of Internally Displaced Persons, unemployment, violence, crime and several other social upheaval in the region.
The chairman who was represented by Sadiq Radda, executive Secretary, PACAC stressed that all countries in Africa must collaborate to achieve better results in all efforts at addressing the problem especially Illicit Financial Flows (IFF).
Sagay also urged African leaders to speak with one voice at global systems like the United Nations in order to block all safe havens where these proceeds of corruption are taken to.
Also speaking, the Director and Chief Executive Officer, NFIU, Modibbo Tukur, said anti graft agencies needs to improve in the area of prevention, information management, digitalisation and data management.
Tukur frowned at the fact that some cases on corruption are often leaked before they get to court, and advised that intelligence information must remain water-tight.
As part of efforts to digitalize the anti-corruption process, the director said the NFIU will go paperless by September 2021 and has already deployed a crime analysis tool to over 30 institutions. He urged other corruption-fighting agencies to follow the same step.
On his part, Bolaji Owasanoye, the chairman ICPC during his welcome address stressed that anti-corruption agencies must cooperate especially in the area of information sharing.
He also pointed out that the dialogue is key especially with the adoption African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to facilitate commercial activities in Africa.
Owasanonye warned that while AfCFTA is an opportunity for increased revenue in Africa, it also means an opportunity for more IFF. He therefore said the timing of the dialogue was apt.
The dialogue discussed three specific areas: Effective implementation of the AUCPCC by RECs and NACs in Combating Corruption and Achieving Agenda 2023; Combating IFF for the effective implementation of ACFTA; and Encouraging a Culture of Corporate Transparency, Accountability and Integrity in Multinational Corporations.
