Wole Ojewale, a Senior Programme officer of the Foundation, made the call at a Town Hall meeting held at Hotel 17, Kaduna, last Wednesday.
The theme of the meeting was “Fostering citizens’ support for the war against corruption in Nigeria.”
Mr. Ojewale made the call against the recent rating of the Transparency International, which ranked the country as 136 among 168 corrupt countries worldwide.
He warned that the rating called for urgent need to deploy all necessary measures to stem the tide of corruption in the country.
Mr. Ojewale, who decried the attitude of some Nigerians to the anti-corruption crusade, said “it has also been observed by a section of Nigerians that the current anti-corruption efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari would achieve very little unless it becomes a paramount agenda that can be pursued at the state and local government levels.”
“This is because public opinion on the fight against corruption differs. For some Nigerians, it is indicative that it is an exclusive agenda of the sitting President that is driven only at the federal level, even though corruption exists at other levels (State and local government institutions and processes).
“Whereas, some have observed strongly that the war against corruption is
selective and targets only politicians of the former administration amongst other assertions,” he said.
He attributed the absence of data, reliable information and poor record keeping by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as a strong factor that had aided corruption at the lower levels of government.
While harping on the need for citizens’ engagement for an open
and transparent system of governance, Mr. Ojewale said “citizens need to participate in these processes to demand accountability by claiming the space in the fight against corruption at the states and LGAs.”
He added that “as a civil society organization at the forefront of justice sector reforms, CLEEN Foundation believes the essential legal instrument that could assist the citizens to check corruption within state institutions and processes at local level is the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.”
Mr. Ojewale said Kaduna presented a good starting point to promote the anti-corruption engagements given the goodwill from the state government as expressed in its readiness support efforts for an open society.
Sherif Ndasule, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Kaduna State chapter, in his keynote address at the meeting, said he did not share the sentiment of some Nigerians that the fight against corruption by President Muhammadu Buhari was a witch-hunt against the opposition.
He said the Buhari administration “has gone headlong in ensuring that this fight is executed to the last. Therefore, the efforts of the administration should be commended and encouraged.”
He also advised that the issue of corruption should be the concern of all Nigerians, hence, they should not allow any partisan consideration, capable of truncating the fight, to be drawn into it.
Similar town hall meetings are planned for Lagos, Rivers and Benue States
before the end of the year.
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