By Hassana Yakubu
A Civil Society Organisation, Corruption Trackers Initiative, has called on President Bola Tinubu to be decisive and brutal on issues of corruption in the country.
The call was made by Hamza Abiden, the Executive Director of the organisation during a press conference on Wednesday in Kaduna.
He said that the President must not allow anybody irrespective of political affiliation to escape punishment if found culpable in any corruption case.
Abiden also urged the President to re-energise anti-corruption agencies in the country to do their work effectively.
The executive director noted the recent alterations between former Governor of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle and the EFCC, saying that the ex-governor should present his evidence of the alleged extortion he made against the EFCC Chairman.
“Nobody should be above the law, but blackmail and propaganda should not be tolerated,” he said.
According to him, the organisation has mobilised 100,000 volunteers to gear up its ‘No Escape Route For Looters’ campaign.
He said the volunteers are expected to monitor and report activities of suspected corrupt public officials.
“We are informing the public on our activities, findings and position on various Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Parastatals in Nigeria.
“The findings will assist constituted authorities in bringing public fund looters to book.
“We were able to track over 17 government agencies and parastatals in the area of corruption, accountability, value for money, prudence and transparency.”
According to him, while some of the organisations have good record of accountability, transparency and governance, others were found to be steep in corruption and bad leadership.
He said their findings also revealed that some agencies, ministries and parastatals engage in last minute procurement, contract awards auctioning of public property.
“Some of them never followed due process and most of the activities are enmeshed in corruption, secrecy and lack any decorum for good governance,” Abideen added.
He also noted that some politically exposed persons are already in high level arrangement to leave the country, to escape justice.
“Some corrupt public officials are already forming groups, which they intend to use in blackmailing some of the constituted authority’s like EFCC, ICPC etc, to forestall any investigation about their stewardship.”
The organisation called on the general public to be very vigilant about the movement of corrupt public officials who may want to escape the law.
He said the organisation will submit its findings to relevant authorities for further investigation and possible prosecution.(NAN)
