The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has urged the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) to prioritise the creation of anti-corruption agencies across the 36 states of the federation.
The CISLAC Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a two-day workshop for representatives of state-led anti-corruption agencies.
He said creating anti-corruption agencies in states would help fight corruption effectively.
“Corruption affects us all. It threatens sustainable economic development and ethical values and justice; it destabilises our society and endangers the rule of law.
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“It is, therefore, imperative that anti-corruption efforts are replicated and implemented at the state level and beyond. Nigerians need to own the process,” Rafsanjani, who also heads Transparency International in Nigeria, said.
Bathsheba Tagwai, CISLAC’s Senior Legal Officer, said that the workshop would explore the legal frameworks of existing agencies with a view to strengthening their capacity for institutionalising the anti-corruption efforts at the sub-national level.
On her part, Olayanju Efo-Abasi, Chief Legal Officer of the Oyo Anti-Corruption Agency (OYACA), stressed the need for states to develop their independent anti-corruption agencies, saying that doing so would strengthen the fight against corruption.
She, however, said that efforts must be put towards synergy and collaboration between agencies that tackle corruption issues.
