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Ribadu, 100 Others Seek Int’l Anti-Corruption Court
The pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, and other global anti-graft advocates have called for the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC).
The former EFCC chairman was among the over 100 world figures, including former heads of states and governments, former government and intergovernmental officials, and representatives of civil society, governments, business, and faith, who have signed a declaration for the establishment of the IAAC to tackle high-level corruption in governments.
The Integrity Initiative International (III), an international non-governmental organisation fighting “grand corruption”, which pulled the signatories together from over 40 countries, announced the signing of the declaration on its website visited, yesterday.
“We know that grand corruption – the abuse of public office for private gain by a nation’s leaders (kleptocrats) – thrives in many countries and has devastating consequences,” the group stated as part of the reasons for its call for the establishment of the IAAC.
It added that grand corruption continues to flourish despite the existing laws that are in place to check it, noting that the menace thrives not due to insufficient laws.
“The 187 countries that are party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (“UNCAC”) each have laws criminalizing corrupt conduct. Yet, kleptocrats enjoy impunity because they control the administration of justice in the countries that they rule,” the group said.
The group, which says it is dedicated to promoting human rights, human health, and international peace and security, noted that kleptocrats corruptly enrich themselves from the trillions of dollars being spent to promote global public health and counter climate change.
“Kleptocrats are robbing their countries of funds needed to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” the III said, adding that “Grand Corruption undermines democracy as kleptocrats use their power to suppress the media and civil society, and subvert honest elections.”
It is also of the view that because grand corruption “has global consequences and often cannot be combated by the country’s most immediately victimised by kleptocrats, a new international institution – an International Anti-Corruption Court – is necessary and justified.”
The group said the IAAC should have jurisdiction “to prosecute violations of existing domestic anti-corruption laws, or a new international counterpart of them, by kleptocrats and their collaborators, if the country the kleptocrat rules is unwilling or unable to prosecute a case itself.”
It said the court should also have the authority to prosecute crimes committed by nationals of Member States, and by nationals of other states who commit crimes in the territory of a Member State.
“The IACC should be a court of last resort with the capacity to prosecute and imprison kleptocrats, and thus create opportunities for the democratic process to replace them with honest leaders,” it said.
The group added that the court should have “the authority to recover, repatriate, and repurpose illicit assets for the victims of Grand Corruption” in civil as well as criminal cases.
Some former heads of state and government, who signed the declaration alongside Ribadu, are former prime minister and former foreign minister of Sweden, Carl Bildt; former President of Tunisia, Moncef Marzouki; former President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev; and former President of Colombia and Nobel Laureate, Juan Manuel Santos.
Others include former prime minister and former chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Haris Silajdžiæ; and former President of Slovenia, Danilo Türk.
Ribadu, the pioneer head of EFCC, Nigeria’s flagship anti-corruption agency, from 2003 to 2007, falls into the category of the signatories who were former government and inter-governmental organisation officials.
He is the only Nigerian on the list of over 100 signatories from 40 countries.
Other countries with representatives among the signatories include Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, India, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, and North Macedonia.
Others are, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Malta, Mexico, Philippines, and Republic of the Congo, Russia, and Zimbabwe.
The issue of public sector graft is commonly associated with developing countries where opaque public institutions that often oversee large and lucrative infrastructure or natural resource projects create conducive conditions to pay out bribes.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been in office for six years, suggested the creation of a special court to fight corruption in an interview, last Friday.
“Special courts are very important especially in the case of corruption,” the president said in the interview he granted with NTA, aired, last Friday.
Nigeria is among developing countries that perform poorly in the yearly Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), an index published annually by Berlin-based Transparency International since 1995 which ranks countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.
Nigeria slumped to 149 (out of 180) on Transparency International’s 2020 CPI, scoring 25 points out of 100.
The ranking placed Nigeria as West Africa’s most corrupt country after Guinea-Bissau.
In 2019, Nigeria was ranked 146th, with a total score of 26 (out of 100).
In 2018 and 2017, the country maintained a CPI score of 27, ranking 144 and 148 respectively.
A total of 180 nations are usually ranked from 0 to 100.
While zero indicates the participating country is ‘highly corrupt,’ 100 signifies the highest level of transparency – ‘very clean.’a
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.