Ezekwesili
Presidential
candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Dr. Obiageli
Ezekwesili, has said that one of the challenges confronting
Nigeria remains transparent leadership.
She
said this during a visit to her by Peter Eigen, the Visioner and
Founder of Transparency International, in Nigeria.
The
ACPN presidential candidate described corruption as Nigeria’s most
visible problem, and assured Nigerians in a statement on Wednesday
that her party would ensure transparency in governance.
Ezekwesili
noted that fighting corruption in Nigeria required a a
proactive process, building strong and impartial organisations headed
by utmost professionals.
She
said, “Corruption is arguably Nigeria’s most visible problem, and
a war against it has been a tool for opportunistic politicians
who lack the track record, political will or even technical
know-how to tackle this.
“Tackling
corruption requires proactive approaches. First, value
reorientation, which will be led by the highest political authority
in the land, being the president. Hence, ensuring the election
of a credible, untainted president is critical to tackling
corruption.
“Secondly,
prevention through reduction of opportunities for corruption,
through public sector reforms, which improves public financial
management and also reduces the role of government in the economy.
This means reviving the role of the audit agencies and
processes across the public sector. Also strengthening agencies
like the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) and the Nigeria
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) by
reviewing and updating their laws for effectiveness.
“Finally,
effective sanctions on corruption and impunity by reversing the
aberrant status quo where there is freedom to engage in corrupt
practices without consequences. This will require providing agencies
the
capacity
to detect, investigate and prosecute corruption.”
The
presidential candidate also expressed displeasure with the
ineffectiveness of the Freedom of Information Act, saying it was
encouraging poor accountability in governance.
“There
are two laws that deserve significant focus because they hold
significant potential to tackle corruption but have been hindered
from functioning to their fullest capacity: the Freedom of
Information Act and the Electoral Act. Ensuring that stringent
penalties are placed on bodies that refuse to or hinder the
process to release information that the public request is
critical to improving transparency and fighting corrupt
practices.
“We
will simplify the process of making an FoI request, by allowing
online applications and tracking the time that it takes to respond
to them. This is an initiative that will be executed,” she
added.
It
will be recalled that Ezekwesili was the pioneer head of the Budget
Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (aka Due Process Unit). It was
in this position that she earned the title of ‘Madam Due
Process’ for the
outstanding
work she led a team of professionals to do in sanitising public
procurement at the federal level in Nigeria.
As
witnessed by members of the Obiageli Ezekwesili Campaign
Organisation - HOPE 2019, Eigen reminisced over the years he
worked with Ezekwesili to bring global attention to the menace
of corruption.
He
praised her for the courage of taking on anti-corruption and demand
for transparency during the regime of a brutal dictatorship.
The
Transparency International boas remembered Ezekwesili’s role in
the innovation of TI’s Corruption Perception Index and her
becoming the organisation’s global voice, “thereby
reflecting how seriously citizens
of
African countries want the world to tackle corruption.”
He
then praised her far reaching work as one who led the first country
design and implementation of the EITI principles when as chairperson
of NEITI, they went beyond the basic publishing of revenues
received and
paid
between government and oil or mining companies.
“NEITI
broadened the initiative to process and physical audits of NNPC/
Ministry of Petroleum, IOCs and NOCs, which were all then published
on the Internet. It was for that work we were recently
nominated for the
Nobel
Peace Prize,” a statement from HOPE 2019 read.
According
to Eigen, he is happy that Ezekwesili is running for the office
of the President of Nigeria.
He
wished her success in the elections, saying, “It will be so much
easier for Nigeria to be committed in tackling her systemic
corruption challenge and become a model of transparency.”
Eigen
added that he would be watching the elections with keen interest.
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