Posted by From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
There was no stopping President Umaru Yar'Adua, who yesterday blamed the high rate of corruption in the country on the insincerity of leaders at all levels, saying his administration was determined to make a difference in the prosecution of the war.
There was no stopping President Umaru Yar'Adua, who yesterday blamed the high rate of corruption in the country on the insincerity of leaders at all levels, saying his administration was determined to make a difference in the prosecution of the war.
Yar'Adua, who had earlier revealed that the immediate past administration wasted about $10 billion on the power sector without any meaningful result to show for it, said the insincerity of leaders at all levels contributed to corruption, and challenged all those holding public trust to lead by example.
He was responding to the remark by the visiting World Bank Vice President for Africa, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili that the perception within the international community is that Nigeria is slowing down on the war against corruption.
He admitted he was aware of the perception in the media, but said his administration was ready to wage a serious and sustainable war against corruption and would live by example with his own conduct and activities subjected to close monitoring.
Towards this end, the president said the Federal Government would appoint and train corruption monitors to check the activities of all public officials and expose any under-hand activities in its bid to strengthen the war on corruption.
The monitors so appointed, according to him, will study the United States' anti-corruption operations and the Chinese model, where officials monitor the flow of suspicious assets and corruption activities by establishing information sharing systems among judicial prosecutors, courts, the police and banks.
He hinted that the activities of all officials in all sectors of the economy would be monitored and information shared with relevant departments, thereby helping to find and expose corruption as early as possible.
A regime of corruption monitors, the president contended, would put paid to a practice 'where public officials use proxy companies to award contracts to themselves and in the process amass ill-gotten wealth whose sources they cannot explain.
'You must tackle the system and leave no room for people to be tempted. That way, anybody who engages in corrupt activities knows he is putting himself on the line," he stated, describing corruption as 'a manifestation of disrespect for the rule of law and due process, especially among those who have leadership responsibilities."
He expressed concern that one of the factors causing corruption in the country is the absence of planning, pointing out that 'without planning, you cannot set targets, objectives and time lines, and this gives room for corruption, because nobody is ever held accountable for uncompleted or abandoned projects for which additional resources must be provided, for completion."