The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has said that corruption, more than anything else, is the biggest impediment to national development.
Insisting that corruption consists of actions that are often clandestine and practices whose perpetrators always try to conceal, Malami said that it is now acknowledged that many of our political, social and especially, economic problems in Nigeria are traceable to corruption.
The AGF stated this in his keynote address at the 1st Meeting of the National Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership on Tuesday in Abuja, according to a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Comrade Salihu Othman Isah.
Isah disclosed that the minister re-emphasised President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to make governance more open, accountable and responsive to the citizenry.
He said, “In May, 2016, the President attended the International Anti-Corruption Summit organised by the government of United Kingdom, where he reaffirmed his commitment to strengthen anti-corruption reforms through implementing programs aimed at exposing corruption, punishing the corrupt and providing support to victims who has suffered from corruption and thirdly, driving out the culture of corruption.”
Reiterating that the OGP is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving transparency, accountability, citizen participation and responsiveness to citizens through technology and innovation, which Nigeria formally joined as the 70th country in July, 2016, Malami disclosed that President Buhari has approved the OGP National Steering Committee, being coordinated by the Ministry of Justice, adding that it consists of representatives of the Ministries, Agencies and Departments, as well as civil society organisations, the organised private sector and professional associations.
He explained that these group representing various institutions have worked together to co-create a two-year National Action Plan to mainstream transparency mechanisms in the management of public funds across all sectors and citizen engagement.
Highlighting the progress made so far since Nigeria joined the OGP to include the commencement of consultation on the implementation of the Beneficial Ownership Transparency, of which President Buhari had presented the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Bill, 2016 to the Parliament, the minister stressed that the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Nigeria Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative are also working together to develop a register of beneficial owners of all companies operating in the Nigerian extractive industry.
He added that the United Kingdom government has commenced the implementation of beneficial ownership public register in 2016, and was among one of the first to commence consultation process involving a triangular process – government, business, and civil society – towards the establishment of public register of beneficial owners.
He said, “The application of the Freedom of Information Act is becoming more robust and access to public information is increasing. The OGP Secretariat plans to train all relevant agencies to ensure effective application of the FOI law.
“We are the first country to recognise civil society as critical in the monitoring of recovered and returned stolen assets, Nigeria Network on Asset Recovery has participated actively in the negotiation of agreements for return of stolen assets, thus setting a global standard.”
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in his remark at the occasion, pointed out that corruption is not a victimless crime; everyone is victim of corruption.
He however assured that government’s intentions were not to witch hunt anyone, but to let Nigerians know what is the cost of corruption in their lives.
On his part, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewoye, advised that Nigerians should be committed in erasing the errors of the past and to ensure that things are done with properly.
The Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda and Civil Society Co-Chair of the OGP, Mr. Edetaen Ojo, earlier in his remarks, said that the OGP Steering Committee consists of equal numbers of government and civil society representatives, who together oversee the development of the OGP, providing guidance and direction for the process, as well as maintaining high standards for the initiative and ensuring that it is sustainable.
He revealed that the OGP has a rotating leadership, which also comes from both sectors, with government and civil society co-chairs of Steering Committee.
Also present at the meeting were Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed; Director-General, Bureau for Public Service Reform, Dr. Joe Abah; amongst others
