President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says all Nigerians have a role to play in surmounting the menace of corruption.
He stated this in Abuja on Monday, at the opening of a Capacity Building Workshop for Justices and Judges, organized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute.
President Tinubu, who was represented at the occasion by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said the fight against corruption should not be left for the nation’s antigraft agencies alone.
“I consider this initiative significant for the simple reason that it provides a platform to collectively raise a strong voice against a common enemy in our nation, corruption. No Nigerian is immune to corruption, a cancer which continues to deny the nation the full benefits of her God-given resources.
“Rather than look up to only the Anti-Corruption Agencies for solutions to this malaise, I believe it is in our enlightened collective interest to close ranks and aggressively tackle this common enemy.
“It is on this note that I want to thank the leadership of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) for initiating this yearly seminar for prosecutors and judicial officers,” he said.
The Nigerian leader used the opportunity to buttress the role of the judiciary in fighting corruption.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that the judiciary is central to the success of the anti-corruption efforts. The commitment, courage and patriotism of judicial officers are ingredients that make the difference in the fight against corruption,” the President stated.
He however noted that there are challenges impeding the work of the judiciary.
He said: “Though I am aware that prosecution of corruption matters has improved in the light of the justice sector reforms in the last few years, we are not oblivious of some challenges that continue to impede the speedy adjudication of corruption cases. They include frivolous applications and appeals, meant to delay trial, intimidation of judges by counsel, and judgment based not on the facts of cases but on technicalities.
It is my expectation that this workshop will interrogate these issues. More importantly, I believe this event presents an opportunity for the bar and the bench to improve their capacity in dealing with emerging typologies of financial crimes. Advances in technology have increased the sophistication of financial crimes beyond the scope of current jurisprudence. For instance, the emergence of virtual assets has occasioned an upsurge in cryptocurrency fraud, and our courts must be equipped with requisite knowledge to adjudicate these new crime forms.”
He urged participants to come up with practical recommendations that will ultimately berth improvement in justice delivery and eliminate gaps currently exploited by corrupt actors to stall trial endlessly.
The Nigerian leader said the current administration has carefully utilized the recovered proceeds of corruption to improve the lives of students and vulnerable citizens.
“This government also sought to ease the pressure on vulnerable populations to embrace corrupt practices through strategic investment of recovered proceeds of corruption in critical social programmes. The two notable ones are the Students Loan Fund being managed by Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Consumer Credit Scheme under the supervision of the Nigerian Credit Corporation.
“With easy access to loans, we are confident that most of our indigent students will have no need to embrace cybercrime, while the credit scheme offers workers easy access to money to fund their needs in spite of the harsh economic realities,” said the President.
President Tinubu commended the EFCC for its commitment in fighting all economic and financial crimes, especially in tracing and recovering stolen assets.
“We will continue to support the work of the Commission to ensure that it continues to deliver its statutory mandate without let or hindrance,” he added.
Ever Present Malady
Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, who also graced the occasion, noted that corruption is a menace that has existed for long in the history of human societies.
Chief Anyaoku added that corruption is found in almost every country therefore, it has to be stopped through collaborative efforts.
“Corruption has existed from time immemorial in the history of human society. Without any iota of doubt, corruption has become one of the biggest impediments in the way of Nigeria’s efforts to achieve socio economy development and political stability.
“Having in my career visited more than 100 countries, I can say that the phenomenon of corruption occurs in virtually all countries of the world. What makes the difference is its extent and the effectiveness of the measures for combating the malady in each country,” Chief Anyaoku stated.
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, advised that decisions to be taken of legal luminaries must impact on the growth of Nigeria as a nation.
She said: “As judicial officers, the decisions we make in our courts have a marked impact on the growth and stability of our dear nation Nigeria and this invariably affects its economic development and sustenance.
As such, it behooves us to ensure that our decisions reflect an understanding and appreciation of the dynamics of economic and financial systems as well as global best practices. Accordingly, the importance and necessity of capacity building programmes such as this cannot be overemphasized.”
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, said ther theme of the workshop, “Integrating Stakeholders in Curbing Economic and Financial Crimes” portrays greater inclusivity and harnessing the collective strength of stakeholders in the justice and law enforcement sectors of Nigeria.
He therefore, emphasized that collective action by all stakeholders will help actualize Nigeria’s quest to overcome the challenges of corruption and financial crimes, which have hindered the development of the nation.
There were goodwill messages by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass and the Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
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