The fight against
corruption is being delayed by Nigeria’s slow judicial system and delay tactics
by defence lawyers, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on
Sunday in Ibadan.
Mr Kazeem Oseni, the Deputy Head of its Ibadan
Zonal Office, stated this at the 13th Biennial conference of Obafemi Awolowo
University Muslim Graduates’ Association (UNIFEMGA), Ibadan Chapter.
His comments were contained in his paper titled “
Corruption in Nigeria: An overview and the Effort of the EFCC in Fighting the
Scourge’’.
“The EFCC is committed to the anti-corruption war;
we have made some progress but the operating environment has not been very
encouraging.
“Issues bordering on legal technicalities, lack of
cooperation from States and local governments and public attitude towards
corruption keep undermining our efforts to tame the menace,” he said.
Oseni said that the commission was responding to
the challenges by enhancing the capacities of its operators and exposing them
to the requisite skills required for efficiency.
“We want to ensure that every investigation is
properly carried out; we want to make sure that there are no escape routes for
those found to be evidently corrupt,” he said.
The official called for massive support for the
commission, pointing out that the EFCC could only work with information offered
by members of the public.
“We all have roles to play, either as individuals
or corporate entities. It is when we change our attitude and support the fight
that it can succeed,” he said.
Also Speaking, Prof. Abdul-Afis Oladosu, a lecturer
at the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan,
suggested that only spiritual and morally sound persons be trusted with
positions of authority.
“If we are to succeed in the fight against
corruption, positions of authority should be restricted to people of sound
moral standing. Unless we do that, it will be difficult to uproot corruption
from its roots,” he said.
Oladosu’s views were contained in a paper titled:
“Combating Corruption: Role of Religious Leaders’’.
The lecturer said that appointing people of
questionable character was a risky venture and threat to the nation’s
socio-economic and political growth.
He urged religious leaders to tighten their control
of politicians, and warned them against compromising moral standards for earthy
rewards.
The university don cautioned religions leaders and
incompetent scholars against misinterpreting the scriptures just to justify
their actions.
“Politicians engage in material corruption and
religious leader engage in spiritual corruption. Politicians steal from the
nation’s purse while religious leaders steal from God’s purse. These are all
corrupt tendencies,” he said.
He said that any discussion on the role of
religious leaders in combating corruption must begin with the monitoring of the
attitude of any person seeking to occupy a position of authority.
“Knowledge of evil and refusal to combat it is
double punishment,’’ the lecturer said.
Earlier, Mr Munir Ademola, Chairman of Ibadan
chapter of UNIFEMGA, had said that the topic was selected to offer more insight
into the war against the menace by the President Buhari-led administration
Ademola said that corruption was equally fighting
back from every angle, and stressed the need to educate Nigerians on the
efforts of the anti-graft agencies, the challenges and what was expected of
members of the public.
News
Source: - The Guardian | August 27, 2017.
Photo Source: - Daily Trust | April 13, 2017.
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