CISLAC, YIAGA, CODE, CDD, and 45 other CSOs have united against the harassment of anti-graft agencies in Nigeria.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has raised the alarm over alleged “malicious attacks on anti-corruption agencies” in the country.
Addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja, the civil society groups said the anti-corruption agencies were targeted to weaken and distract them from prosecuting highly placed corrupt persons in the country.
But the CSOs listed legal means to strengthen the fight against corruption in the country to ensure accountability and transparency in governance.
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The Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Rafsanjani, who spoke on behalf of the coalition, listed alleged judicial corruption, corruption enablers, procurement of political power, inadequate budgetary allocation to efficiently fund investigations and prosecutions as some of the factors militating against anti-corruption fight in the country.
Rafsanjani said: “Over the past few weeks, we have observed with great concern the malicious attacks and deliberate efforts to blackmail anti-corruption agencies through sponsorship influencers, incentivised opinion publications in some national dailies, online and electronic platforms, all targeted at discouraging anti-corruption efforts and shielding the kleptocrats from thorough investigation.
“The pattern is clear: there is an unfolding plot of surreptitious moves to backpedal on the progress made by anti-corruption agencies…”
On alleged corruption of the Judiciary, Rafsanjani said: “Nigerians have witnessed too many situations where courts have granted injunctions which deterred anti-corruption agencies from inviting and prosecuting corrupt government officials and politically exposed persons.”
The activist acknowledged the prevalence of procurement of political power in the country.
He expressed disappointment that corrupt elements in the society were getting appointments into various positions of authority.
Rafsanjani said Nigerians have witnessed numerous cases of alleged foreign enablers of corruption from Switzerland, Monaco, Panama, British Virgin Islands and the United Kingdom (UK) facilitating corruption.
“Enablers from the UK are particularly strongly linked to Nigerian cases,” he said.
The activist listed some solutions to the menace and how to strengthen the anti-graft fight in the country.
