The Icpc and the quest for a corruption-free Nigeria
The war against corruption has been successfully waged in countries with high levels of corruption similar to Nigeria.Hong Kong is an example.It took Hong Kong over 30 years to overcome corruption and to achieve the present high level of development and in the process, has become one of the major financial centres of the world […]
The war against corruption has been successfully waged in countries with high levels of corruption similar to Nigeria.Hong Kong is an example.It took Hong Kong over 30 years to overcome corruption and to achieve the present high level of development and in the process, has become one of the major financial centres of the world today.
The Hong Kong success is attributed to factors like high level of citizen participation, efficient justice system, effective law enforcement agencies, civil society involvement, the rule of law and adequate funding by the government.The Independent Commission against Corruption(ICAC) which spearheads the anti-corruption war in Hong Kong, has been able to transform the City State from a corruption-ridden one to a corruption-free society through the three- prong approach of enforcement, prevention and community relations.
The ICPC Act is similar to the law establishing the Independent Commission against Corruption of Hong Kong. It mandates the Commission to perform six major functions which can be summarised under three broad dimensions;-enforcement, prevention and mass mobilisation.Since the inauguration of the ICPC in 2000, the Commission has been performing its duties with great zeal and dedication, despite its perennial insufficient funds and manpower.
Unlike Hong Kong where the citizens, disgusted and devasted by corruption, took to the streets and marched to the Government House in 1974,demanding the establishment of an anti-corruption agency, the birth of the ICPC in Nigeria was greeted with suspicion, disbelief and outright hostility. It took the National Assembly nearly one year to pass the ICPC Bill into law, even though it was the first bill forwarded to the lawmakers by President Olusegun Obasanjo. Immediately the bill was signed into law, the governments of Ondo and Abia states challenged its constitutionality, arguing before the Supreme Court that the new law could only be applied at the federal level and not in the states. The Supreme Court eventually revalidated the constitutionality of the Act in July 2002, meaning that between 2000 and 2002 when the law was being challenged before the apex court, the Commission’s work was reduced to the barest minimum.
The resolve and determination of Justice Mustapha Akanbi, pioneer chairman of the Commission, were again put to test, when the National Assembly, in one single day, abrogated the ICPC Act, 2000 and replaced it with the ICPC Act, 2003 which attempted to disband the Commission and its staff. This action was taken by the lawmakers simply because the chairman instituted investigation activities into allegations of bribery against some principal officers of the national assembly, including the then Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim. Justice Akanbi, one time president of the Court of Appeal, headed to the High court in Abuja where the purported ICPC Act, 2003 was declared null and void, while the constitutionality of the ICPC Act, 2000 was again reaffirmed and revalidated.
Under this anti-corruption atmosphere, Justice Mustapha Akanbi was able to recruit staff, set up zonal offices, conduct system study and review of corruption-prone areas in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, embark on mass public enlightenment and education programmes as well as conduct investigation activities across the country. The Commission filed nearly fifty cases in court and got some convictions, against all odds. And to drum home the message that it would no longer be business as usual in the public service, Akanbi established Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring Units in MDAs , which over time, have expanded to well over four hundred in number. He also initiated the National Values curriculum, in collaboration with the National Educational Research and Development Council(NERDC) which is aimed at infusing values such as patriotism, integrity, honesty, loyalty, etc into the curriculum of Nigerian educational institutions. This initiative has been approved by the National Council on Education, while teachers are being trained to kick-start the programme at the primary and secondary school levels, before it is eventually introduced at the tertiary level.
Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, a retired justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria,who has also served in similar capacities in the Gambia and the Seychelles, took over the stewardship of the ICPC in 2005, after a stint as the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission. Since then, he has not only improved on what he met on the ground but has introduced new ideas and programmes that will definitely stand the test of time.
Justice Ayoola has established twelve new ICPC offices in Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Oyo, Osun, Enugu, Kogi, Imo and Bauchi states, bringing the total number of state offices to 14.
On assumption of duty as the Chairman of the Commission, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola identified the adverse effects corruption has had on the image and development of the country, despite our huge potentials in terms of population, material and human resources. He pointed out in his first meeting with principal officers of the Commission that Nigeria’s inability to achieve enduring political stability can be attributed to the damaging effects of corruption, which continues to undermine the legitimacy of political leaders and public institutions, thus hampering the capacity of the state to implement development programmes. Apart from its developmental implications for our national economy, Justice Ayoola is keenly aware of the impact of corruption on the welfare of peoples; and the moral and ethical fibre of society.
Verifiable records indicate that since the retired Supreme Court Justice took over at the ICPC, the number of cases filed in court have increased tremendously. In 2006, the Commission filed a record 39 cases in court, and in 2007 even surpassed this number by filing 51 additional cases. Between 2008 and middle of September 2010, 90 other cases have been filed in various High Courts across the country. Anyone who is conversant with the system of checks and balances between the Investigation and Prosecution departments of the ICPC knows that before a case gets to court, it must have undergone thorough scrutiny and critical analysis that hardly exists anywhere in Nigeria. So far, the ICPC has filed 232 cases with 447 persons being prosecuted for corruption charges. This indeed is a remarkable achievement, in a country where not a single person had been charged to court for corruption before the Commission was created.
Sawa is of the ICP C in Abuja.