PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said that he defeated former President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election because Nigerians revolted against endemic corruption.
Speaking while declaring open the Corruption Risk Training for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies of the African Union, at the Conference centre, Presidential Villa, Abuja, he described as dysfunctional, what he said was the pervasive nature and devastating impact of corruption in the nation before the election.
He said: “When we assumed office in May 2015, the pervasive nature and devastating impact of corruption on the Nigerian nation had become dysfunctional. The momentum for our electoral victory could not be separated from the revolt of the people against glaring endemic corruption.”
According to him, the training was done by his administration as part of the support for the war against corruption in our continent.
ALSO READ: Buhari wants stolen funds repatriated without obstacles
It was facilitated by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, ACAN, the research and training arm of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC).
The president further stated: “The fight against corruption is a battle for the souls of our different countries and it is one that we must win. Since independence, our continent has suffered from the severe consequences of corruption and it is imperative that we take steps to reverse the trend.
“During the past several months, we have been taking steps to institute integrity and transparency in the processes of government and holding those who have plundered our commonwealth to account for their actions.
“However, the costs of recovery and sanctions are also enormous. While commendable successes have been recorded, it has become manifest that corruption fights back. With enormous stolen resources elements have attempted to compromise law enforcing institutions and pervert the course of justice.
“This realisation highlights the necessity of building a system that focuses on preventing corruption. We continue to implement policies aimed at building resilient systems that can withstand the assault by corrupt officials.
“Our steps in this direction include the full implementation of both the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Bank Verification Number (BVN) the Open Government Partnership, various Executive Orders, strengthening the Anti-Corruption Agencies and permitting their full autonomy.
“It is in this context of building robust preventive systems that we must understand this initiative which aims to train leaders of anti-corruption agencies in the African Union by deploying Corruption Risk Assessment Methodology for corruption prevention in our countries.
“Corruption Risk Assessment seeks to identify corruption-prone processes and procedures in organisations and recommend appropriate remedial steps. The methodology places a premium on prevention as an effective complement to enforcement in the war against corruption.
“In 2016, through support from the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria acquired the capacity to conduct training on Corruption Risk Assessment. Since then, the Academy has conducted a number of these training.
“To showcase the growing appreciation of CRA as a tool for preventing corruption, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria has received a request for the training of Corruption Risk Assessors for ECOWAS countries from the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.”
President Buhari said the training was an opportunity to extend the benefits of the methodology to other African countries, stressing that “it is clear that we have not taken our appointment as Anti-Corruption Champion for the continent for the year 2018 lightly.”
Speaking to State House correspondents in a chat, the Acting Chairman of the ICPC, Dr Usman Abubakar, said that though the TSA has helped to check-mate corruption in the system, there were rooms for manipulation before data was entered into the system, noting that contracts were awarded to individuals but at the point of procurement some ugly things happen.
“We also found out that some agencies are yet to comply fully with the TSA policy. That is why we asked Mr President to mandate all agencies to make all their payments or revenue through the TSA platform,” he added.
