Mrs Ene Obi, Country Director, Actionaid Nigeria says President Muhammadu Buhari needs the support of Nigerians and other stakeholders to effectively tackle corruption in the country.
She said this at an event to commemorate the 2020 International Anti-corruption Day in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to Obi, eliminating corruption is crucial to the well being of Nigerians and the development of the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was also to draw the curtains on actionaid project for Strengthening Citizens’ Resistance Against Prevalence of Corruption (SCRAP-C) which began three years ago in the country.
The country director stressed that Nigerians must embrace the values of honesty, integrity and transparency to reduce the burden of corruption on the country.
“Even if the president means to fight corruption, he cannot fight it alone, but with the collaboration of you and I and other stakeholders.
“We cannot keep quiet, the public service must uphold the highest standard of integrity and ensure that all appointments and service delivery are given by merit.
“Public servants as well as officials must also be guided by ethics, transparency and accountability, ‘’ Obi said.
She decried situations where funds were allocated to revenue generating agencies without regard to accountability.
She added that the private sector also has crucial role to play in combating corruption in Nigeria.
She, however, said that in spite of blanket allegation on the country by some international bodies, there were many Nigerians that were not corrupt because they had taken a stand against the menace.
Obi maintained that it was time for Nigerians to take a stand to be upright for the country and be change agents.
“The level of crime, cost of living and unemployment rate will drop, and security of lives and property will improve if every citizen stands upright for Nigeria in his spaces of authority.
“All stakeholders must continue to raise awareness on the evils of corruption on citizens,’’ she said.
Obi added that the actionaid would continue to partner with relevant agencies on the anti-corruption war.
She reveled that within the last three years of implementing the SCRAP-C project, six community anti-corruption working groups were inaugurated across the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
She said the essence was to change citizens’ perceptions on corruption.
Obi further added that due to the citizens` engagement on anti-corruption crusade, in Kaduna State, the National Assembly re-inserted a previously neglected constituency project.
According to her, the project was worth N40 million for the construction of a primary healthcare captured in the 2018 budget.
“The SCRAP-C project in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), tracked 2,045, both executive and constituency projects in 28 states in Nigeria between October 2019 and July 2020.
“This intervention has moved 93 contractors and 259 legislators back to the project sites, while 261 cases were recommended for investigation and 40 cases recommended for recovery of public funds,’’ she said.
Obi said it was however, regrettable that the pension of most state governors who do not pay workers` salaries were assured.
She called on the Federal Government to continue to track looted funds, stressing that looters of public treasury must be sanctioned to serve as deterrent to others. (NAN)
