Political Corruption Worsening Ahead of 2023–CISLAC

Political Corruption Worsening Ahead of 2023–CISLAC

With the 2023 general elections fast approaching, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC, says that political corruption is expected to be on the rise.

It however, urged anti-graft agencies to live up to the expectations of Nigerians, and take their prosecution ‘job’ a notch.

CISLAC made this known in Abuja on Tuesday when it released its ‘Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021’.

Released exclusively in Nigeria by CISLAC, the National Chapter of TI, the index reveals that Nigeria scored 24 out of 100 points in the 2021 CPI, falling back one point compared to the 2020 CPI.

Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the Advocacy Centre’s Executive Director, while unveiling the CPI report, stressed the need for government to consider actions that will help tackle systemic corruption, and also salvage Nigeria’s deteriorating image caused by pervasive corruption.

He lamented the level of financial recklessness, abuse of budgetary processes, and failure of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in following the due process of appropriation, saying it is disturbing.

“Recent revelations made on the 17th of January 2022 by BudgiT on the duplication of projects in the 2022 budget do less to palliate the pandemic corruption currently experienced, despite a rising unemployment rate of 33%,” he said.

Rafsanjani, also noted that Nigeria’s anti-agencies have made commendable progress in their efforts to combat corruption in 2021 with an increase in convictions.

He said: “However, high profile convictions of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) across political, regional and any other form of divide has fallen short of public expectations.”

According to the CISLAC Executive Director, the continuous absence of a Whistle Blower Protection Legislation leaves Nigerian anti-corruption agencies deprived of key insider intelligence.

Rafsanjani appealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), anti-graft agencies, Ministries of Justice, and Foreign Affairs should work in synergy and engage their international counterparts to ensure that global enablers/middlemen like lawyers, notaries, accountants who help facilitate money laundering and tax evasion are blacklisted, deregistered, or held account under the several national laws, policies and international frameworks to which Nigeria is a signatory.

By PRNigeria