The Executive Secretary, Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI), Chief Dennis Emeka Aghanya’s petition to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) in January 2019 led to the probe and eventual sack of the late Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen. In this interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, he speaks on how the present government is stepping up the anti-corruption fight.
Beyond rhetoric, Nigerians appear to be losing hope in winning the anti-corruption war. So, what is the latest in this fight against corruption?
Anti-corruption fight anywhere is a complex one. It is a collective role. Leaders and the citizens should see it as a joint venture; else it will be most difficult to achieve expected result.
Each time I drive on the streets of Abuja or on the high ways, I feel very sad seeing the type of values citizens display. We need a total reorientation of values. The citizens have a bigger role to play in the fight against corruption. Government only sets guidelines and ensures that defaulters are punished. But government is made up of humans who can also get frustrated with brazen disobedience of the laws of the land.
Nigerians don’t obey simple rules like using the pedestrian bridges, obeying traffic light, disposing wastes appropriately, selling at ideal market rates and stuff like that. Nobody seems to understand that without observing simple guidelines established by the government, we cannot succeed. I am not trying to absolve government of share of the blame. In fact, it has to review most of its policies and also re-gig its appointments. Appointment should not be for political patronages; capacity to deliver should be considered most.
You are seen as one of the closest associates of the AGF, Abubakar Malami. As the chief law officer of the federation, he has a major role to play in the anti-corruption efforts. Nigerians seem not satisfied with him. How do you access his performance so far?
I don’t understand what you mean by close associate, but my assignment as an anti-corruption advocate takes me around him and his office, the ministry of justice and other security agencies in the country. Outside such official duties, I doubt if Malami will recognise me if he sees me on the road.
That I commend his policies and programmes most times is out of appreciation and not praise singing. He has distinguished himself as one of the best AGFs the country has ever produced. Under his regime as the AGF, Ministry of Justice has generated so much revenue for the country more than any other ministry, outside the petroleum ministry.
You are once said to have headed the disbanded Special Presidential Investigation Panel on the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) unit under the Ministry of Justice. What is the situation now?
I can only describe that as the handwork of persons who wanted to run down Malami. The ministry has an Asset Recovery Unit headed by a woman, Ladidi Mohammed, who has demonstrated capacity. And for such a unit to succeed, it needs information. That is the much I can say.
2023 seems to take the front burner now. How would you describe the anti-corruption efforts of President Buhari to guarantee the APC retaining power in 2023?
The APC government is made up of Nigerians cutting across the length and breadth of the country. Therefore, assessing the party is assessing the entire country. I also want you to realise that crime is now sophisticated and corruption is part of it. It does not have a rocket science solution.
As the APC government is introducing models to combat crime, perpetrators are also advancing their act. Like I said earlier, it’s not an exclusive reserve of the government to fight corruption. It is a collective responsibility of all citizens, whether the APC, PDP or any other party to join hands in the fight against corruption. There is so much sabotage against government efforts and it’s going to hunt everybody.
In the ministries, parastatals and agencies, the civil servants are mostly corrupt. They are not APC but supposedly apolitical. This administration has demonstrated enough commitment in the fight against corruption, but the pandemic seems over-rooted in our system more than we can imagine.
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