The Chairman of the Centre for Anti-corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, has blamed the Nigerian constitution and the judicial system for corruption in the country.
Comrade Adeniran was reacting to the arrests of former Governors Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State and Rochas Okorocha by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Governor Yari was taken in for his alleged involvement in the N84 billion fraud the EFCC accused a former Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris of masterminding.
Governor Okorocha is on the other hand, facing a N2.9 billion corruption allegation.
Comrade Adeniran said the Nigerian foremost anti-corruption agencies, the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related offenses Commission (ICPC) are unable to make tangible progress in the cases involving the high-profile personalities because their cases may remain pending before the courts due to administrative or procedural delays.
"For example, I will tell you that ICPC is supposed to have a department in all the MDA'S ministries,departments and agencies. That department is called the anti-corruption transparency unit.
“The unit is supposed to monitor the inflow and outflow of resources from each MDA so that they will nip in the bud the potentialities of committing corruption crimes before they happen, but they are not functional and ICPC is not doing enough to strengthen their own capacity to monitor what is going on in all the MDAs."
"The same thing with the National Assembly that is supposed to perform oversight functions on this MDAs;they allow things to degenerate to a level that is difficult to reverse and that is not helping ordinary Nigerian people."
Comrade Adeniran also said the loopholes in Nigeria’s laws and the corruption in the judiciary are there to frustrate the war on corruption.
He advocated a sanitisation of the judiciary.
He also urged the Federal Government to ensure the anti-corruption agencies are strengthened with more funds, personnel, equipment, training, and protection.
He thinks the current system is dysfunctional and conducive for corruption and crimes.
