Agora Policy tasked incoming administration on improved transparency, accountability

By Chukwudi Nweje

Abuja-based think tank, Agora Policy, has charged the incoming government to take stock of the transparency and accountability measures to strengthen the zeal for anticorruption.

“As Nigeria prepares for a new government, a stocktaking of the transparency and accountability measures is desirable to ensure that the zeal for anticorruption is sustained and that the prevailing measures are fit for purpose, and further strengthened and institutionalised,” it said in a report entitled: ‘Imperative of Strengthening Nigeria’s Transparency and Accountability Measures’ produced with the support of MacArthur Foundation released in Abuja.

The report, put together by a group of experts, examined 16 transparency and accountability mechanisms within four clusters: norms and values, public financial management, open disclosure, and sanctions, noted that the gaps in legislation, capacity, values, and resourcing have not allowed the array of transparency and accountability measures in place to have the desired impact on governance and development.

“Whether now or in the future, Nigeria needs more transparency and accountability, not less,” it said.

Agora Policy also examined the rationales, histories, achievements and challenges of the selected transparency and accountability initiatives, then makes recommendations for improvements and recommended to enhancement of legal backing for some of the initiatives, faithful enforcement or implementation of existing laws, improvement in capacity and funding for some of the implementing agencies, enhancement of collaboration across tiers of government, and implementation of a sustained and strategic campaign on value reorientation as way forward.

The report read in part: “The report recommends the strengthening of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation through improved staffing and better remuneration of the staff of the agency, and prompt presidential assent to the newly passed audit bill.

“While the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF) has a responsibility to eradicate corruption from Nigeria’s public finance system, this responsibility is limited to the extent that the country’s audit law permits

“Nigeria needs a fresh law that guarantees independence and powers to sanction for the AuGF in line with established standard of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). Without the powers to sanction, the AuGF is more or less a toothless bulldog.

“President Muhammadu Buhari should sign the Federal Audit Service Bill into law before he leaves office. The bill, which was passed by the National Assembly on 29 March 2023, repeals the Audit Ordinance of 1956. The bill strengthens the operations and independence of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF). It aligns with the present times and with global best practices and it enhances the utility of auditing as a powerful transparency and accountability mechanism.”

The report also calls for the amendment of Paragraph 3 (c) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution to ensure that assets disclosed by public officials can be made public by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

It also argues for improved funding for CCB for the agency to be better positioned to discharge its important mandate, including the verification of assets declared by millions of public servants across the three tiers of government.”

In his remarks, Agora Policy founder, Waziri Adio, noted: “This is a very timely report. At a moment of transition, there is a danger that the focus on anti-corruption may fade, especially given how anti-corruption barely registered as a major campaign issue during the 2023 elections. The report is an important reminder about the centrality of transparency and accountability to citizens’ welfare and the democratic project. It also underscores the heavy investments that Nigeria and its development partners have made in the transparency and accountability space over time, perhaps even more than in some advanced countries, and the need to ensure that these investments do not go to waste, that the country derives adequate returns on these vital investments.”

“The report is the last of the four policy papers commissioned by Agora Policy, with the support of MacArthur Foundation, to contribute to national debate before, during and after the landmark 2023 elections in Nigeria. The other three reports focused on the economy, national security, and gender and social inclusion.”