The 3 arms of government are joining forces to devise effective ways to curb the scourge
The Federal Government has said it is coming out with a ‘National Strategy’ on the fight against corruption, which will cut across the three arms of government.
This was disclosed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Muhammed Adoke, after a joint session of key leaders in the tiers of government.
“Yes, we are coming out with a national strategy on the fight against corruption. And that strategy will involve the three arms of government,” he said in response to questions on if the FG intends to review its current strategy against corruption.
Senate Leader Ndoma Egba, during the briefing, noted that the President was not comfortable with the ongoing trend of corruption and the challenges it posed in the society.
“Well, the President is obviously worried about out the incidence of corruption and from discussions we had, all the arms of government are indeed worried about the incidence of corruption in our society. And we looked at the challenges we are facing in the fight against corruption; some of the issues are constitutional,” Egba said.
“The National Assembly will take another look at these issues. The Judiciary also gave its own insight into the constraints; all of these will be addressed. The issue of funding of the agencies, especially the EFCC and the ICPC, was also discussed; all of these issues will be addressed.”
Speaking on the highlights of the meeting, he further stated that this was the first time the three arms of government would come together to discuss issues on corruption in the society and how to jointly fight it.
“The President’s initiative is unprecedented; getting the three arms of government to sit in one meeting and the subject matter of discussion was the issue of corruption and how the three arms could work together to stem the worrying incident of corruption in our polity.
We discussed at length, got insight from each arm of government, and we will meet again to review the issues that arose from today’s meeting, and the way forward,” Egba said.
On the subject of Farouk Lawan, former chairman of the subsidy committee, the AGF said the issue of the report was not discussed in detail at the meeting, but added that his office will start prosecuting in the next one week, once the EFCC is done with its investigation.
“So, Nigerians should be rest assured that this is not an issue that will be swept under the carpet. We have gone this far because we want a proper and painstaking investigation done, so that when we charge people to court there will be no lapses or loopholes for lawyers to exploit,” he said.
Others present at the meeting with the heads of the three arms of government included Vice President Namadi Sambo; Secretary General of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Head of Service Bello Sali; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi; the Senate President David Mark; the Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal; Chief Justice of Nigeria, Dahiru Musdapher; the acting President of the Court of Appeal as well as Judges from the FCT, Lagos, Kaduna and Anambra.
