Stakeholders Seek Collaboration In War Against Corruption

Stakeholders in the Anti Corruption sector have called for collaborative efforts for Nigeria to succeed in fight against corruption.

They made the call in Abuja at a one day National Policy Dialogue on Anti-Corruption Performance in Nigeria.

At the forum, the chairman Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, explained that the policy dialogue had enabled the agencies to deliberate more on successes and challenges.

He said the ICPC would not hesitate to collaborate with organisations or individuals willing to support the organisation in addressing the monster of corruption and achieve more on its mandate.

Also, the Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement, Mr. Adebowale Adedokun who noted that corrupt practices are paramount in the public service procurement processes, stressed that President Bola Tinubu has ordered equal opportunities in the procurement processes to all registered contractors to enhance transparency.

“We want to ensure that all the contractors can trust the government, that if they bid for a contract they will win, if they win it will impact on their communities, and that is the whole essence of this to discuss modalities on how to improve on our procurement processes and our fight against corruption.”

He said plans have been concluded to introduce e- procurement to ensure accountability and fairness in the procurement processes.

“The process of introducing electronic government procurement has started. We are trying to finalize certain legal constraints. Once we are able to sort out the constraints, we will formally announce to Nigerians.”

On his part, the Executive Director Centre for Media, Policy and Accountability Dr. Suleiman Suleiman explained that the National Dialogue was aimed at strengthening civil society organizations and the media to monitor and report the performance of the anti graft agencies as well as
evaluate progress, identify gaps, and chart a sustainable path in combating corruption in Nigeria.

According to Suleiman, “This ‘National Policy Dialogue on Anti-Corruption Performance in Nigeria: Successes and Challenges” is a major part of our Nigeria Anti-Corruption Performance Public Reporting project, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, the project seeks to strengthen how Nigerian anti-corruption agencies report their performance to themselves, to Nigerians and the global public particularly the EFCC, ICPC, and CCB.”

Other stakeholders at the occasion charged all the Anti graft agencies to synergize with relevant agencies to
effectively deliver on their various mandates without favouritism or bias.

Florence Adewale, Edited By Grace Namiji