UN parleys Nigeria on fighting corruption

UN parleys Nigeria on fighting corruption

Efforts by Nigeria to combat corruption got a boost on Tuesday, as the United Nations (UN) said it has integrated the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria in its anti-corruption agenda in Africa.

The UN said it had designed a National anti-corruption strategy, which required strengthening the anti-corruption agencies in the country, more essentially to develop the capacity to effectively fight the malaise of corruption in the country.

The representative of the UN on Anti-Corruption in Africa, Mrs Maryam Sisoko said this in Abuja, the Nigerian capital during her courtesy visit to the National Headquarters of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), stating that the international agency was willing to assist Nigeria in its anti-corruption battles.

National strategy

She said the national strategy by the UN on anti-corruption involved the need to strengthen the operational capacities of the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria, and hence, urged both the ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to start cooperating in order to effectively fight corruption in Nigeria.

Sisoko, who was received by members of the ICPC board led by the acting chairman, Ekpo Nta, said that the UN would be holding a two-day workshop beginning from February 22, essentially to review project document on national strategy on war against corruption in Nigeria.

The workshop, according to her, would also appraise the inputs from donor agencies on the fight against corruption, with a view to enabling the anti-corruption agencies’ access to international donations meant to aide their operations.

The UN representative said the agency had, in 2010 organised training on anti-corruption, which she said the EFCC had been a major beneficiary. She said that the European Union has also been evaluating sources of funding for the anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria for their effective use.

She called for cooperation between her agency and the ICPC in the fight against corruption, and stressed the need for a liaison office between the agency and the ICPC for the purpose of co-coordinating efforts on the task of fighting corruption in Nigeria.

The ICPC’s acting chairman had earlier sought the help of the UN in assisting countries in Africa, in particular Nigeria to assess their needs in terms of costs and materials required in fighting corruption, so as to know the particular areas it could intervene.

He also called for the UN’s assistance in building the capacity of ICPC officials for the fight against corruption, and pleaded that the UN should assist the ICPC in setting up an e-library meant to enrich the knowledge of staff in the fight against corruption.

Ekpo, however, hinted the visiting UN official of preparations by ICPC to set up an anti-corruption academy, expressing hope that the agency would assist in building curriculum for the development of the academy fashioned like its type in Australia.

NP/Adekusibe/Cokey