Tambuwal accuses FG of politicising anti-corruption fight

Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal has accused the federal government of paying lip service to the fight against corruption, saying the President Muhammad Buhari led executive is politicising the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

The Governor accused the government at the centre of not doing enough to build an institution to fight corruption.

He said this at the signing of a memorandum of understanding of 2019 United Nations development framework and launching of spotlight initiative, between the State Government and the United Nations, held at the council chamber, Government House in Sokoto.

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He said “When I was the speaker of the federal house of representative, I accuse the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, who was a member of my party of supporting corruption. That is when he granted state pardon to the former Bayelsa State governor, Late DSP Alaimesigha, who was accused of corruption, we all know what happened after.

“Now it is public knowledge in Nigeria today, the moment you align yourself with a particular party today, you are immune to the fight against corruption.

“The issues of fight against corruption in Nigeria, we cannot get it right especially when the agencies that are assigned to the task are at the beacon of the federal government, when they don’t like your face, they set EFCC against you.

“We are very much aware, once you joined a particular party, you are immune from being prosecuted by the EFCC or ICPC, that is not the way to go.

“There is a need to stop politicising the fight against corruption but take it headlong, otherwise we won’t go anywhere.

“We knew what happened here during the election, when EFCC was all over the place, arresting people anyhow, identified from them their political masters with the belief that people are buying votes.

“We know the political actors here who used EFCC as part of their campaign to come and intimidate people here. The earlier we realize that we are not doing it right the better for the institutions to better.

” That is why during my tenure as the speaker, I spoke about it and I still want to assure you now that I am ready to support the constitutional amendments that will make our institutions strong.

“There is a need to separate the office of the Minister for Justice from the Attorney general of the federation. The Minister can be a politician while the attorney general of the federation should be above board and not a politician.

” We also need to separate the office of the Accountants general and that of the chief accountant of the federation.

“We must go back to the constitution and do the right thing, if not or unless, we may not get it right” he added
Earlier in his remark, UN Resident Coordinator, Edward Kallon, who represent UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, emphasized on the disturbing megatrend that is of concern to the global body.

He said, ” it is worrisome the country explosive demographic growth put at an estimated rate of 3.2 percent while the economy is growing at 2.1 percent.

“The rest is the multidimensional poverty and increase inequality, the impact of climatic change and competition with natural resources, pervasive corruption, insecurity and the empowerment of women”.

Kallon also brief governor Tambuwal on the UN reforms in the areas of prevention, peace and security, reform on UN governance system and improving management and accountability.