Nigeria’s Anti-graft Agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has urged lawyers in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to play a pivotal role in the fight against corruption in the legal system.
The Chairman of the Commission Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, threw the challenge at the Nigerian Bar Association NBA Annual General Meeting with the theme, “How Corruption Fuels Insecurity and Bad Governance: The Role of Lawyers in Tackling Corrupt Practices in Nigeria.” held in Lagos, South West Nigeria.
The ICPC boss, who decried corrupt practices by members of the legal profession, advised the leadership of the NBA to act swiftly and sanction members of the profession involved in corrupt practices.
He questioned the middlemen’s role played by some lawyers for suspects involved in corruption, money laundering and illicit financial flows (IFFs) cases, describing it as unethical.
“In one of the investigations by the Commission, we traced the money to the account of a lawyer. When we got to the account, the money had further been transferred to many accounts in an effort to frustrate the investigation. These lawyers are agents of money launderers, and they undermine the legal profession.
“Also, some lawyers are engaged in the payment of bribes to file cases in courts or to collect receipts. Lawyers must dare to speak and challenge the status quo and reinvigorate the fight against corruption and money laundering,” Professor Owasanoye added.
Professor Owasanoye further expressed concern over orders granted by courts to lawyers preventing anti-corruption agencies from investigating and making arrests.
“The courts are now in the habit of issuing orders stopping anti-corruption agencies from investigation and making arrests. The biggest culprits are the senior lawyers and it is a matter of regret that the NBA is not doing anything about it.
“The NBA has shown some promise but this promise needs to be taken forward and the Association needs to act swiftly to save the legal profession and prevent its denigration,” he lamented.
Evaluating the nexus between corruption, insecurity and bad governance, the ICPC boss explained that the provision of critical infrastructure, security, education, health, and food are the immediate casualties of corruption.
“A single transaction of diversion of huge sums could have immediate impact that may become irreversible or more difficult and costly to reverse, while petty diversion of budget or misallocation of resources may not immediately make an impact but will inevitably impact medium to long term.
“A lot of phantom projects are included and also duplicated in the budget every year. The ICPC has annually been unpacking the budget once it is passed by the National Assembly. The Commission has been able to stop the duplication of projects in the budget running into billions of naira.”
He added that two units – Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking System Study and Review were created by the Commission as part of measures to get to the root causes of corruption in the public sector and address them head-on.
The ICPC boss further stated that the Commission was collaborating with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) through the use of modern technology to aid the fight against corruption and illicit financial flows.
In a related development, the former Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, has hailed the impact of the anti-corruption agency in addressing corruption in the country, particularly the public sector and government finances.
PIAK
