The World Bank has identified inaccurate data at the Federal Government level as a major hurdle in preventing the timely and automatic generation of fiscal data.

World Bank County Director, Dr Ndiamé Diop made an observation of this effect on Tuesday, describing it as a constraint to achieving transparency report. The occasion was the launch of AGORA policy and its partners in Abuja.

Represented by a senior official of the bank Debby Isa, Diop said:” We talk about transparency, but in order to have transparent reports you need to have the data and that data needs to be accurate and reliable”.

“And right now the data system requires all kinds of manual processes that allow for leakages that have long affected the system”.

In a keynote address entitled, “The State of Anti-corruption Policy and Practice in Nigeria: A Political Scientist Approach “, delivered at the AGORA policy and its partners, a high-level policy conversation on the state of anti-corruption policy and practice in Nigeria, entitled: “The state of anti-corruption policy and practice in Nigeria: a political scientist approach”.

Prof Adele Jinadu said Nigeria’s festering corruption cannot be addressed by adopting a ‘watch night man’ approach. He added that anything short of a holistic approach would amount to a waste of time.

Adele said the holistic approach was expedient in view of a total loss of confidence by Nigerians across the state’s institutions.
He lamented the pervasive state of corruption across entire Nigeria institutions saying the fear of the unknown makes the majority of Nigerians cowards.

” In spite of all the efforts placed on fighting corruption, and constitutional reform we can’t get anywhere. We are dealing with the toxic environment of our lifetime. We are building in vain. No matter what we do corruption is about morality. Our political leaders are doing the opposite of what the laws say. Unless characters and integrity come into our politics, we will go nowhere “, professor Jinadu said.

He enjoined political actors and those in positions of authority to be accountable.

“The “duty and responsibility of all organs of government, and of all authorities and persons exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers,” to citizens as provided under Nigeria’s Constitution; and the role of the following independent democracy-promoting commissions to monitor and ensure compliance with political and related accountability provisions of the country’s”.

” To EFCC, Human Rights Commission, ICPC, INEC; Code of Conduct Bureau; and the Public Complaints Commission. The message of this Keynote is that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Let the sentinels on the watch-tower sleep not, and slumber not.” Nurturing such night watchman civic virtue is an indispensable and durable guardrail against the political culture of impunity of our elective public political office-holders” he said.

In a goodwill message by the Chairman, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ola Olukoyede represented by Mrs Adejoke Liman, Director of the Policy and Research department, referred to corruption as a huge enterprise with the theft of public resources across all levels of government, a development he said was a great concern for the agency.

“A number of issues have encumbered the fight against corruption, many of which are known to this distinguished audience. They include public cynicism which is a major morale dampener for anti-graft officials; security of tenure of anti-corruption agency heads with implications for the independence of the agencies; challenges in prosecution of high-profile corruption cases; non-sustenance of accountability reforms in the public sector, and more”.

” We are not likely to make the kind of impact envisaged until these challenges are addressed. We must also examine the ease with which
public officers are able to siphon humongous sums from the public till without any warning systems. Over the years we have focused on borrowing best practices from other nations but real solutions to our corruption problem lie in adapting measures drawn from our unique experiences. The kind of introspection that today’s forum engenders should propel us in identifying gaps that need urgent closure for effective recalibration of the anti-corruption framework for greater efficiency”, he said.

Olukoyede said the anti-graft commission had taken a conscious decision to use the fight against corruption to stimulate the economy and support
critical social investment initiatives. “As some of you may be aware, funds recovered by the Commission are part of the resources deployed by the Federal Government in financing the students and consumer credit schemes.

“Both schemes have the potential to reduce the penchant for criminality by vulnerable segments of the population”, he said.

In a remark by the Chairperson of Agora, Ms Ojobo Ode Atuluku Esq she said anti-corruption should not fall off the radar with change in government, adding that, “we believe the message is still relevant today”.

Agora Policy is a Nigerian think tank dedicated to developing practical solutions for the country’s pressing challenges.

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