Disturbed by the high level of corruption in the country, the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has called on President Bola Tinubu to appoint an appropriate head and leadership of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to prosecute politically-exposed persons.
According to the organisation, the CCB is one agency that has not only constitutional power but also a special court that can prosecute politically-exposed persons that have illicit assets within the shortest period of time without going to the normal court.
The Chairman, HEDA, Olanrewaju Suraju, made the call at the weekend, at the 20th anniversary of the organisation held in Ikeja, Lagos with the theme, “Navigating the Nexus of Anti-Corruption and Good Governance in Nigeria: Striking a Balance for Economic, Social, and Environmental Justice.”
He added that the Code of Conduct Tribunal must be recognised to be able to see and adjudicate over cases coming from the CCB.
He said: “The independence of the anti-corruption agencies is extremely crucial, we can’t have a situation where they will be working and they will also be looking at their back, we want to see the efficiency of those institutions reflect the job security and efficient capacity that are also endowed in it.”
Lamenting the justice administration system, Suraju said the judiciary system could not afford to continue the discharging of persons accused of violating the country’s resources.
“There is no doubt about the fact that public officers in Nigeria are technically always guilty of corruption. So the judiciary cannot afford to deploy technicality in a country in a dire situation.
In his lecture, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede, said the government’s failure to optimise public good is a critical index of failure of governance.
“Our political landscape is littered with programmes and projects conceived ostensibly for public good, but in reality, driven by personal interest. Once, Nigeria had a programme of close circuit camera installation in major cities. It was designed ostensibly to improve the security of the people. It never worked for a day yet, some citizens smiled at their bank!”
Olukoyede assured that the EFCC would remain committed to ensuring that the resources of this nation are not cornered by a few elites to the detriment of most citizens.
