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…Pervasive graft stunting nation’s development – EFCC boss
From Agaju Madugba, Katsina
Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, has solicited the partnership and support of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to tackle corruption in the state.
The Governor made the appeal when he led a delegation of some Katsina government officials to the corporate headquarters of the EFCC in Abuja.
A statement by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Ibrahim Kaula Mohammed, said that Radda reiterated his administration’s zero tolerance for graft, noting that the Katsina State Anti-Corruption Commission was recently established as part of efforts to ensure that government officials and civil servants act professionally and shun abuse of public trust.
According to Radda, “as Governor of Katsina State, I am exploring new ways of reducing economic and financial crimes in government.
“We are working hard to ensure that civil servants are not pressured into doing the wrong thing across all tiers of government.
“We also encourage contractors to avoid being pressured into dubious activities at the expense of our people.
“My administration is also doing a lot to boost transparency in the Katsina public service, to ensure the opportunity to misappropriate or embezzle public funds are reduced to a bare minimum.
“To this end, we have implemented TSA and we are rapidly digitizing our revenue and expenditure systems to provide more transparency and close loopholes.
“We are a new government and we have a lot to learn as we navigate our administrative responsibilities.
“I would want our commissioners, accounting officers, procurement officers, and those saddled with budget implementation to take advantage of your academy and acquire the knowledge to do right in their roles.
“We welcome suggestions on how to design better systems to fight corruption and we are open to providing you with our full support, where the Commission has reason to believe members of our administration are not going by the book.”
In his response, the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, said his agency was committed to fighting corruption, describing it as Nigeria’s albatross.
According to the EFCC boss, pervasive graft has stunted the country’s accelerated development and infrastructural growth.
Olukoyede applauded Governor Radda for establishing the Katsina State Anti-Corruption Commission and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, and pledged that the EFCC will organize capacity-building training for the pioneer staff of the Katsina anti-graft body.
“Your Excellency, you equally deserve to be commended for implementing the Treasury Single Account (TSA) as part of sanitizing the public finance system of the Katsina civil service.
“We want to assure you of our support in every possible way. As part of our collaboration too, we shall also be setting up a special desk which shall serve as a link between the EFCC and the Katsina State Anti-Corruption Commission,” Olukoyede said.
