BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Presidency and Transparency International (TI) are yet to come to a common ground on the state of the war on corruption in Nigeria as they traded tackles and pointed accusing fingers at each other during an anti-corruption radio program on Wednesday in Abuja.
The internationally recognised and respected anti-corruption watchdog, TI recently faulted Nigeria’s war against corruption and scored the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government low in its 2020 Corruption Perception Index (TI-CPI), describing it as inaccurate and unreal.
Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Public Affairs, Ajuri Ngelale and the Program Officer, Anti-corruption at CISLAC, Samuel Asimi disagreed on issues of nepotism, transparency, and rules of engagement in the Federal Government’s fight against corruption.
The duo, who were guests on the popular radio program, Public Conscience produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development (PRIMORG), vehemently disagreed over nepotism which is being perceived as a major challenge of the Buhari-led government among other critical issues which formed the reasons why Nigeria dropped on the 2020 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International as part of its 2020 Corruption Perception Index.
This is as the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a subsidiary of Transparency International pointedly accused the Buhari-led administration of lack of transparency in the recovery of stolen assets.
But, the aide of the President, Ngelale dismissed the 2020 CPI rating, saying that perception is different from reality, adding that prioritizing corruption perception of a country over realities on ground is a problem.
Ngelale, while acknowledging that Nigeria has more work to do in the war against corruption, said that Nigeria has progressed under President Buhari leadership.
Responding to allegations of lack of transparency in the emergency response of the government to COVID-19, nepotism, and favoritism in the appointment and promotion of some public officers, Ngelale said; “I want to deal with facts and not emotions or perceptions. Before now, Vanguard and Premium Times research showed that the Buhari government gave 51 percent appointments to Southerners.
“When President Buhari took over office, it was then the full implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) was put in place, and we have seen the result of that.
“Look at the EFCC and what they have recovered in a ten-year period from 2009-2019, the EFCC recovered about N1.28 trillion and it is not including dollars or Euros recoveries, properties and physical assets, only naira recoveries. Now, out of that N1.28 trillion that was recovered by the EFCC between 2009-2015 which is six years’ period, less than 300 billion was recovered from 2015-2019.
“Right now, over five thousand Nigerians are being paid their salaries directly by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the survival funds, N300 billion CBN COVID-19 loan and this administration leveraged on ICT on N-Power.
“I think anybody saying that we have not been transparent is a general misinformation,” Ngelale insisted.
The President’s aide lamented that Nigerians focus more on the Federal Government, whereas a lot more anomalies go on at the state level and therefore questioned the credibility of Transparency International, alleging that one of the founders of the organization ran for Presidency against Buhari in 2015, hence cannot be trusted.
Taking on the points, the Program Officer Anti-corruption at CISLAC, Samuel Asimi debunked any form of political interference or influence in the ratings churned out by Transparency International on a yearly basis.
Asimi stressed that the CPI does not measure only corruption at the Federal Government level but also at the states, adding that CPI ratings were not in any way targeted at trivializing the efforts of the government on anti-corruption war.
On lack of transparency by the Buhari administration, Asimi noted that the Federal Government still do not have a dedicated and known data base to track recovered assets, stressing that transparency and accountability can only increase if the government provide a portal where citizens can view recovered stolen assets.
In the words of Asimi; “If there’s a portal that citizens can go straight and get information about recovered monies, the doubt in government processes will reduce drastically.”
Asimi maintained that nepotism remains a major challenge of the Buhari-led government and remained one of the reasons why Nigeria dropped on the 2020 Corruption Perception Index.
According to Asimi; “Besides nepotism, inadequate anti-corruption legal frameworks and interference in the operation of law enforcement agencies; prevalence of bribery and extortion in the Nigerian Police; security sector corruption; and absence of transparency in the COVID-19 pandemic were some of the main reasons Transparency International rated Nigeria low in 2020”.
He therefore called on the Buhari-led government and the National Assembly to enact a legal framework for the management of the recovered stolen assets, as well as ensure that anti-corruption agencies are fully independent and work in synergy.
