AGF Fagbemi inaugurates 2 anti-corruption c’ttees

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), has inaugurated two committees on the anti-corruption fight.

The committees are the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) Ministerial Committee 2022-2026 and the NACS Monitoring and Evaluation Committee 2022-2026.

The ministerial committee comprises of the Attorney General of the Federation, Minister of Finance, Minister of Interior, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Minister of Women Affairs, and the Minister of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy.

Others are the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Chairman Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, and representative of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation not below the rank of permanent secretary.

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Inaugurating the ministerial committee, Fagbemi charged them on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s determination to eradicate corruption in the country while strengthening the efficiency of anti-corruption agencies.

He said, “Under the NACS, the distinguished members of this committee are therefore responsible for facilitating the Anti-corruption Funding Framework (AFF) and the development of sector-specific strategies for the implementation of NACS.

“This is of critical importance because there is on observed lack of knowledge and misinformation on the part of most agencies as to their expectations in the implementation of the NACS policy.”

Speaking on the M and E committee, Fagbemi said its activities serve as the backbone of any strategic initiatives, providing essential tools needed to identify gaps and challenges, measure progress, collate scientific data to improve on the implementation of strategic plans for quality policy making processes and informed decision making.

He charged the committee members on the five pillars of the federal government NACS policy which include, prevention of corruption, public engagement, campaign for ethical re-orientation, enforcement and sanctions and recovery and management of proceeds of crime.

He listed some of the terms of reference of the committee to include: Develop the M&E template including the assessment criteria, prepare the budget for execution of M&E programmes, advocate for the inclusion in MDA budgets resources for the implementation of MDA specific activities specified by NACS, and conduct quarterly monitoring visits to MDAs or as the need arises.

Others are to conduct annual review of the progress of the implementation of NACS and submit its reports to the NACS Ministerial Committee through the NACS Secretariat by the 30th of January of each year, and provide quarterly updates based on monthly self-assessments and quarterly reports of MDAs, among others.