Stakeholders in the anti-corruption network have blamed the inability of the federal government to adequately tackle corruption in Nigeria on state and local government’s lacklustre attitude towards the monster.

They based their arguments on the fact that state and local governments respectively manage over 60 per cent of monthly allocations in the country.

They also called for active political participation by the citizens in order to tackle corruption in the country.

They ventilated yesterday in Abuja at a one-day stakeholders’ inception meeting on Nigeria’s anti-corruption performance public reporting project put together by the Centre for Media, Policy and Accountability (CMPA).

Speaking, a Professor of sociology in Bayero University, Kano, Sadiq Isah Radda, who alluded to the fact that corruption challenges in Nigeria were not insurmountable, stated that fighting corruption requires efforts from the three arms of government.

He said: “Fighting corruption requires the three arms of government. Local Government Area chairmen and state governors must actively fight corruption because they control over 60 per cent of the monthly allocations.”

According to the university don, the level of corruption in the private sector was higher when compared with the public sector. He, therefore, urged anti-graft agencies to pay close attention to the sector.

Noting that the country can no longer ignore the process that produces its leaders, Radda urged citizens to actively participate in politics to enable the system to produce incorruptible leaders.

He noted: “We should not be corrupt ourselves; we should stop corruption ourselves using our instrumentality. The level of corruption in the private sector is much higher than in the public sector and must be looked into. We can fight corruption through political participation. We cannot be ignoring the process that produces our leaders. We need those with integrity in political offices. The media should help by sensitizing the public. They should hold political parties accountable in line with their ideologies.”

Also speaking, Executive Director, of CMPA, Dr Suleiman Amu Suleiman, said that political participation was the first line of participation in the anti-corruption fight. He argued that for one to achieve the necessary and desired results in anti-corruption, one must be involved in political activities so that one’s voice would be heard.

Speaking on CMPA’s project on Nigerian Anti-Corruption Performance Public Reporting (NAPPR), Dr Suleiman said it was aimed at bridging the gap between anti-corruption agencies and other stakeholders through research, advocacy, training and capacity building.

Also speaking, the Country Director, the MacArthur Foundation, sponsor of the programme, Kole Shettima, said they were focused on anti-corruption because it affects all aspects of lives.

He added that they were supporting the CMPA programme because its activities tended to address corruption and the MacArthur Foundation was focused on improving the lives of citizens.

The Secretary, of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission (ICPC), Professor Usman Abubakar, expressed dissatisfaction with some of the measures used to rate corruption in Nigeria and called for more efforts to address corruption across the country.

Another University don and former ICPC academy provost, Professor Sola Akinrinade, lamented that the activities of anti-corruption campaigners in Nigeria were not properly reported and called for consented efforts at improving it.

NAPPR is a project funded by MacArthur Foundation and implemented by CMPA for 2023-2024.