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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Stakeholders at a roundtable on innovation for strengthening transparency and accountability in Plateau State have charged state governors to establish anti-corruption agencies in their various states.
This, they said, will complement the efforts of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies in the fight against corruption in the country.
The programme was organised by BudgiT Foundation with support from the Rule and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) Phase II programme and the European Union. Anti-Corruption Programme Manager, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (Interview IDEA), Dr Emmanuel Uche, speaking at the one-day round table organised for media and civil society organisations in Jos, said that the success story of five states that had taken the lead in this direction showed that corruption could be greatly reduced if fought at state level.
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Dr. Emmanuel Uche noted agencies like CCTV and EFCC have been overwhelmed with the number of corruption cases at the federal level, stressing that the establishment of such agencies at state level would mitigate such challenges.
Group Head of Research and Policy Advisory, Budgit Foundation, Vahyala Kwaga, said such anti-corruption agencies are necessary to give fight for corruption good teeth at the sub national level.
He said that Nigeria needs to position itself where strategies for governance, strategies to evaluate and monitor service delivery, strategies that enshrine globally accepted and locally accepted norms and practices are normal.
While admitting that corruption cannot be eliminated totally because of lack of mechanism to monitor everyone, Kwaga believes that it can be limited to a negligible level.
