Tinubu committed to fight against corruption - Fagbemi, AGF

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, has insisted that President Bola Tinubu was committed to the fight against corruption and was determined to end the menace at all levels in the country.

Fagbemi, who stated this at an event to mark United Nations Anti-Corruption Day 2023 in Abuja, said the government was ready to implement in full Nigeria’s National Anti-Corruption Strategy, NACS, covering 2022 to 2026.

This year’s celebration, which marks the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, UNCAC, has the theme “UNCAC at 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption.”

He disclosed that the framework for the implementation of the NACS “is focused on five pillars, which serve as the driving force for both the public and private sectors. The pillars are Prevention of Corruption; Public engagement; Campaign for Ethical Re-orientation; Enforcement and Sanction; and Recovery and Management of Proceeds of Crime.”

He said the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, IMC, and the launch of the NACS 2022–2026 would be in the first quarter of the year 2024.

“After a successful election and transition, President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is determined to strengthen the fight against corruption at all levels and ensure prudent utilization of resources for sustainable economic growth and development,” he added.

On his part, the Executive Secretary, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, said 20 years after Nigeria adopted the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, notable efforts have been made.

Dr Orji, however, pointed out that the latest Corruption Perception Index ranking Nigeria at 154 out of 180 countries shows that the country is still far behind the destination in its fight against corruption.

“In the oil, gas, and mining sectors and extractive industries generally, corruption is still a major constraint to the realisation of the impacts of the ground-breaking reforms recommended in NEITI’s series of industry reports.

“In this sector, Nigeria is still perhaps the only resource-rich country confronted with the peculiar challenges of oil theft, pipeline vandalism, illegal mining, and daylight stealing of our solid minerals, painfully by foreigners with the collusion of our citizens.

“On oil theft alone, Nigeria lost over 619 million barrels of crude, valued at $46.16 billion, or N16.25 trillion, between 2009 and 2020. In addition, Nigeria lost 4.2 billion litres of petroleum products from refineries, valued at US$1.84 billion, at the rate of 140,000 barrels per day from 2009 to 2018,” he stated.

Earlier, Head, Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-corruption Reforms (TUGAR), Mrs. Jane Onwumere, explained that the 2023 theme focuses on “20 years of implementation of the Convention and provides an opportunity for states parties to the UNCAC to take stock of implementation. It also seeks to draw attention to the important role played by the UNCAC in uniting the world to fight corruption jointly and systematically.”

She explained that the event “gives us an opportunity to assess in detail our level of implementation of the Convention, to celebrate our achievements, and strategically address challenges by determining what more needs to be done locally and internationally.”