Ex-ICPC boss, Wali lament deepening corruption in Nigeria

Stephen Oni/ilorin

The pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Justice Mustapha Akanbi, has lamented that convicted former governors, ministers and party officials have become power brokers in Nigeria.

The development, to him, has widened the vicious circle of corruption thereby making the fight against corruption in the country a herculean task.

Speaking in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, at the 46th annual conference of the National Association of Law Teachers, the retired President of the Court of Appeal, urged the President, governors and other political office holders as well as traditional rulers to be in the vanguard by leading by example to stem the ugly tide.

“Many well meaning and responsible Nigerians have been crying foul at the turn of events and the apparent cover up of purveyors of corruption in recent times and the lethargic manner corruption cases are being handled,” he lamented.

He lamented that more often than not, mediocre, incompetent and corrupt officials rather than resourceful, efficient and competent hands, find their way to positions of power and authority which they use and manipulate to their own advantage rather than for public good.

To him, the end result is that the nation begins to drift and slide dangerously down the slippery road of economic ruination, leading in the process to general desecration of societal and values, as well as low level performance in both socio-economic and technological development.

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Okey Wali (SAN) warned that the association would de-register any lawyer found to be corrupt. He said: “Any lawyer implicated in any act of corruption will lose his membership of NBA. We are working seriously with NJC and the CJN to ensure the cleansing of our judiciary and make it one that everybody will be proud of.”

Wali said: “The worst problem we have in Nigeria is corruption. The Americans are telling us what we already know. The report that we heard that made the American government Secretary of State that there is corruption in this country is not news. That there was fuel subsidy scandal is not news. That some people are feeding fat on the savings of other
people via pension is not news.

“The widespread perception of corruption in the judiciary is not news. The only thing that is news is that the Americans are now telling us that there is corruption in this country. Corruption is the biggest cancer that is eaten up this country. You can trace the lack of funding to corruption.”