Coalition of Civil Society, Transparency International in Nigeria has called for stringent penalties for corrupt public figures to serve as deterrent to others for Nigeria to win the war against corruption.
The leader of the group and Executive Director Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center, CISLAC, Mr. Auwal Musa-Rafsanjani made the call in Abuja at the presentation of the Corruption Perception Index 2023.
While commending the effort of the anti graft agencies in the country for various policies in taming corruption, Rafsanjani said recovery of looted assets from corrupt public figures is not enough but stringent penalties should be meted on them which according to him would go a long way to change the mindset of Nigerians over corrupt practices.
He explained that the corruption index published annually in Nigeria by Civil Societies was aimed at serving as a basis for critical reflection on tangible ways to strengthen the fight against corruption.
According to Rafsanjani “There have been arrests and recovery of proceeds of crime by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies. For example, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) through its Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Initiative recovered billions of Niara of diverted constituency and executive projects. Furthermore, the investigation of a handful of present and past public officials by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) provides a ray of hope. However, it is important to highlight that these agencies need to thoroughly investigate and prosecute high-profile individuals without
political interference”.
Also speaking the Executive Director, Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch,
Umar Yakubu stressed the need for improvement on services by public offices in terms of assessing prompt services such as drivers license, international passport and others without favouritism or accepting bribes.
By Florence Adewale, Edited By Grace Namiji
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