Fight against corruption in Nigeria: Way forward

Alegeh said this during a one-day conference held on 24th June at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja with the theme ‘The Fight Against Corruption In Nigeria: The Way Forward’ organised by the NBA Anti-Corruption Commission.“Successive governments had been quite vocal in their criticism of corruption and had wasted little or no time to […]

Alegeh said this during a one-day conference held on 24th June at the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja with the theme ‘The Fight Against Corruption In Nigeria: The Way Forward’ organised by the NBA Anti-Corruption Commission.
“Successive governments had been quite vocal in their criticism of corruption and had wasted little or no time to draw up roadmaps and policies which were claimed to be the final solution to ending the endemic scourge called corruption.
“However, very little successes were recorded in this regard as these policies were either never implemented or when implemented, were observed more in breach than in compliance” Alegeh said.
Sessions of the conference were chaired by the former CJN, Mohammadu Lawal Uwais and Justice Bunmi Oyewole of the Court of Appeal.
The keynote speech entitled ‘Role of the Law Enforcement Agencies in Developing New Approaches to Fight Corruption’ was delivered by Yunus Ustaz Usman SAN.
Other speakers included Professor Kevin Nwosu who spoke on the topic ‘Are the Existing Anti-Corruption Legislations Effective’; Professor Bolaji Owasanoy on ‘Successful Anti-Corruption Campaigns – The Role of Government, Private Sector, Civil Society and Lawyers; Mr.Babajide Ogundipe who presented ‘Domestic and International Anti-Money Laundering Regime: What Measures Are in Place in Nigeria?; Mr. Asishana B. Okauru who spoke on ‘Guidance for Anti-Bribery Compliance: The Importance of a Whistleblower in the Fight Against Corruption’ and Mr. Olukoyede’s paper on ‘Plea Bargain in the New Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015’.
The Inspector General of Police and the chairman of EFCC, ICPC and the Code of Conduct Bureau were all represented.
 The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, represented by Justice John Fabiyi in his opening remarks commended the orgainisers.
He noted that “allegations about corrupt judicial officers and staff now make headline news on a more frequent basis.”
 The CJN said further that corruption is not limited to the bench, adding that it is also as a direct result of the character of individuals that constitute the bar.
He stated that “on the allegations, senior members of the legal profession are also being accused of allowing themselves to be used as conduit pipes for the corruption in the Judiciary.
“Although I will not behave like the proverbial ostrich and hide away from the reality that some judges and judicial staff are indeed complicit in corrupt practices, however, I must assert that corruption within the judiciary is only imbibed by a minute minority”, the CJN said.
He said between 2009 and 2014, there were 64 judges among the serving 1,020 judges of the superior courts of records as of 2014 who “were disciplined as appropriate” with some of them sacked by the National Judicial Council.
He said: “In our lower courts, the figure is about 7,000 judges and magistrates.
“Therefore, corruption in the judiciary having regard to the number of judges and the number of those accused of corruption, the percentage is very low.
 “Where petitions are received in respect of judicial officers, they are promptly investigated via internal procedures put in place by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and where found culpable such officers are disciplined in accordance with the said established procedures.
“Under my tenure as the chairman of the NJC, we have not shirked this responsibility but faced it head on.
“It is however sad to note that the public officials and persons who benefit from corrupting judicial officers are never investigated, apprehended or even prosecuted, even though the judiciary disciplines its own.”
The guest speaker, Yunus Ustaz Usman, SAN, said new ways must be found to tackle the problem.
According to him, the first reason we have corruption by both the executive and the legislature is that, in most cases, wrong people were always voted into power. He added that Nigerians do not value their votes.
His words: “The first most important step to fighting the endemic corruption in Nigeria rests mainly on Nigerians. There is the urgent need for Nigerians to re-engineer their perceptions of the concept of corruption.”
He noted that celebrating persons who acquired wealth through means known by all to be questionable had been deeply engraved in our psyche and sub-consciousness as a people.
 Ustaz Usman said unless the law enforcement agencies find new ways of fighting corruption and unless there are supervisory agencies supervising these law enforcement agencies, corruption can never defeated.