As the war on corruption remains the focal point of the present administration to the chagrin of some within the nation, the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption has faulted the claim in some quarters that the issue was over-flogged.
This was revealed when the Chairman of the Committee led other members to pay a courtesy visit on the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Abuja on Tuesday.
Sagay, who said that corruption was an endemic problem affecting every aspect of our national life urged the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari to name and shame corrupt Nigerians who delved into corrupt practices, stating that the tactic was a potent weapon in the fight against the cankerworm called corruption.
Refuting the claim that the fight was overflogged, he said: “See the amount of suffering that is going on in this country, the number of people that have died; in the civil service, see what is happening; salaries cannot be paid in most places. Do you know the effect on those families; ambitions which our children had to reach the heights but they can’t achieve it. There is unemployment everywhere, all edifices are crumbling; the country is down and you say corruption is over-flogged. It has not been over-flogged.”
He urged the minister to make adequate use of the media agencies under his ministry to join the struggle against corruption.
Sagay also noted that the committee was interacting with judges and magistrates to make them aware of their key role in the successful prosecution of the war on corruption as embodied in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015.
In his response, the minister appreciated the efforts of the committee in the fight against corruption, and assured them that the present administration will not relent in its effort to rid the nation of it, especially now that most Nigerians had bought into the vision and the international community had also lent its support.
According to Mohammed, corruption is difficult to fight because corrupt individuals are mostly richer “better funded, better coordinated and better organized” and would fight back against attempts to check their criminal activities.
“We have no doubt that you will continue to advise the administration on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system,” he told the committee.
Also, Mohammed said many Nigerians were afraid to speak out against corrupt individuals for fear of reprisals or because they had in the past benefitted from the proceeds of corrupt practices.