President Muhammadu Buhari’s often repeated promise to fight corruption with zero tolerance has remained “largely unmet”, a think tank under the aegis if Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), has reported.
The think tank also said that the president’s failure fuels Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, and undermines democratic promises.
The CDD, therefore, slammed Buhari for not doing enough to combat the endemic corruption in the public service, despite having gained power on the back of the promise to fight the ill, that is largely responsible for Nigeria’s rarely improving development crises.
“As the candidate who rode into office in 2015 on a wave of popular anger with entrenched elite corruption, he has made little effort to reform Nigeria’s patronage-fueled, scandal-prone public sector or hold his top officials accountable for their business-as-usual approach,” the CDD said in its report, titled, ‘Buhari’s Anti-Corruption Record at Six Years: An Assessment’.
“With the 2023 election season already ramping up, and Buhari’s hands-off governing style largely unchanged, his government’s anti-corruption track record is set to go down in history as one characterised by missed opportunities and, in some respects, outright hypocrisy. His 2016 promise to ‘demonstrate zero tolerance for corrupt practices’ remains largely unmet.”
The Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, did not respond to calls placed to have him comment on this report, nor did the anti-corruption aide, Abiodun Aikomo.
But Buhari himself, in his Arise TV interview aired, last Thursday, said he would “ease out” any official found to be corrupt with “correct intelligence”.
The CDD said, however, its criticism does not mean the Buhari administration has done nothing in the area of anti-corruption.
It then gave an outline, including improved financial centralisation, referring to TSA and IPPIS; and higher conviction rates by anti-corruption agencies.
The civic group also praised the president for appointing as a substantive EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, whom it described as “a dynamic and experienced investigator”.
Notwithstanding, CDD said it noted “several significant shortcomings,” including the president’s “willingness to appoint individuals of questionable integrity to key positions; his tendency to shield political allies from investigation and prosecution; his disinterest in how the ruling party funds its election campaigns; his failure to make key petroleum sector reforms; and his corruption-prone economic and fiscal policies.
“Many of these challenges remain largely unaddressed,” CDD said.