Federal Government explains delay in implementation of anti-graft strategy

The Federal Government has said the delay in approval and commencement of the second cycle of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS 2022-2026) implementation was caused by the political transition activities in the nation.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) is the nation’s highest body to approve such.

Speaking during the stakeholders meeting held in Abuja, at the weekend, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), represented by the Chairman, Technical Committee on the Implementation of the NACS, Hajia Ladidi Mohammed, said the strategy was important to the Federal Government in its drive to tackle corruption and ensure that the deliverables are observed at the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), cascading in the sub-national levels of government.

The AGF, who noted that they were working diligently on the necessary documents for the second cycle to have favourable attention of the FEC, commended the strategy’s 23- member Monitoring and Evaluation (M and E) Committee chaired by Mr. Andrew Gandu.

The AGF also commended the contributions of the European Union’s (EU) funding, managed by the British Council, through the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC); the Technical Unit on Government and Anti-Corruption Reforms (TUGAR) for their dogged implementation capabilities in the first cycle from 2017 – 2022, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), through the funding of the MaC Arthur Foundation as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the ICPC.

He noted, particularly, the untiring efforts of the National Programme Manager of RoLAC, Mr. Danladi Plang; the Anti-Corruption Component Manager of the organisation, Emma Uche; EU -RoLAC’s Consultant, Dr. MaryIsabella Ada Chidi -Igbokwe; Pragramme Officers, Dala Pwanakei and Frankly Okafor in the TUGAR team led previously by Lilian Ekeanyanwu, and currently led by Jane Onwumere.

Malami also commended Bosede Oguntuberu, stressing that their commitments led to the significant impact felt in the NACS’ implementation at the MDAs level.

The about 22 members of the Inter-Agency Task Team, he acknowledged, worked immensely in the production of the NACS and Action Plan documents, for the first cycle.

He said: “I want to assure you that the process of the second cycle is on, but the political transition activities delayed it. Please, I am begging, let us take this process to another level. This is close to my heart.”

The AGF regretted that most of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Monitoring Units (ACTUs), are not active, leading to the backward implementation in such MDAs.

He urged them to sit up and be proactive as the next cycle commences.

In their contributions, Uche, Chidi-Igbokwe, Gandu, Onwumere RoLAC’s component manager, consultants, NACS’ M and E chairman and TUGAR’s head respectively, recalled the processes, including pros, cons and financial encumbrances encountered in the implementation, stressing that the experience will help in the next phase of the strategy’s implementation.

The critical three areas of implementation, The Guardian gathered, include: strengthening the legal and institutional framework designed to prevent and combat corruption; Mainstreaming Anti-Corruption principles into governance and service delivery; and mainstreaming Anti-Corruption principles into sub-national public administration.

Other objectives of the pillars are prevention, public engagement, ethical re-orientation, enforcement and sanctions; recovery and management of proceeds of crime.