The speaker presented a paper at the NBA conference.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has
stated that President Goodluck Jonathan is encouraging corruption in
Nigeria by his handling of corruption cases.
“The President’s body language’ seems to be encouraging corrupt practices in the country,” the speaker said.
Mr. Tambuwal said the executive arm, headed by Mr. Jonathan, has
failed to act on corruption cases revealed by the National Assembly.
He spoke while responding to questions on Monday after he presented a
paper titled the ‘role of the legislature in the fight against
corruption in Nigeria’ at a one day roundtable to mark the international
anti-corruption day organised by the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, in
Abuja.
“Take the subsidy probe, the pension, the SEC probe and recently the
bullet proof car cases. After the House of Representatives did a
diligent job by probing and exposing the cases, you now see something
else when it comes to prosecution.
“In some cases, you have the government setting up new committees to
duplicate the job already done by the parliament. Take the bullet proof
cars case, the NSA, with all the security challenges confronting the
country, should not be burdened with a job that can best be handled by
the anti-corruption agencies,” he said.
He also said the government has no business setting up any
administrative committee in a corruption case that is clear to all
Nigerians, in apparent reference to the committee set up by Mr. Jonathan
to probe the N255 million car scandal involving the Minister of
Aviation, Stella Oduah. The three-man presidential committee had since
submitted its report to Mr. Jonathan, with the president taking no
action.
“What the President should have done was to explicitly direct the
EFCC to probe the matter. With such directives coming from the
President, I am sure we still have good people in EFCC who can do a good
job,” Mr. Tambuwal said.
“By the action of setting up different committees for straightforward
cases, the president’s body language doesn’t tend to support the fight
against corruption.”
While lamenting what he described as the selective nature of
prosecution of cases by the anti-corruption agencies, Mr. Tambuwal
pledged the support of the national Assembly in the fight against
corruption.
Below is the excerpt of the speech he earlier read at the event.
THE ROLE OF THE LEGISLATURE AS THE VANGUARD FOR ANTI CORRUPTION
CRUSADE IN NIGERIA: BEING TEXT OF THE SPEECH BY RT HON AMINU WAZIRI
TAMBUWAL CFR, SPEAKER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AS GUEST SPEAKER AT THE 2013 INTERNATIONAL
ANTI-CORRUPTION DAY ORGANIZED BY THE NIGERIA BAR ASSOCIATION (NBA)
ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMITTEE – 9TH DECEMBER 2013, SHERATON HOTEL &
TOWERS, ABUJA
PROTOCOL:
1. I should like to start by expressing my sincere
appreciation to the Anti-corruption committee of the Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) for assigning me the role of Guest Speaker at this
auspicious occasion of the 2013 International Anti-corruption day
observance.
2. The subject matter, corruption, is so vast that to attempt to
address it generally will take ages. Accordingly, therefore, I have
decided to restrict my discussion today to “the role of the legislature
as the vanguard for anti corruption crusade in Nigeria”
3. As a phenomenon, corruption is so notorious that it does not
require introduction at an occasion or definition in a discussion such
as this. The mere fact that corruption has been able to secure a whole
day globally set aside for the observance of the prosecution of war
against it confirms it’s notoriety beyond doubt. It also establishes the
fact that corruption is a global citizen.
4. Nonetheless, for purposes of refreshing our memories, corruption
refers to dishonest or illegal behaviour or conduct especially by
powerful people. It is the impairment of integrity, virtue or moral
principle and a departure from what is pure and correct.
5. Even though the tendency has been to talk of corruption more with
reference to persons in position of governmental or managerial
authorities, in reality corruption permeates all segments of society and
indeed all societies since government and authorities are products of
societies. It must be admitted though, that the level of prevalence
differs from society to society.
6. For us in Nigeria, the reality that no greater challenge than
corruption confronts us as a people is not in controversy. Indeed if the
roots of the overwhelming majority of our woes were traced, they are
sure to terminate at the doorsteps of corruption. This is a commonplace
fact known to all Nigerians and requiring no corroboration. Yet for the
avoidance of doubt, it is important to state that in its 2012 Global
Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by the global corruption watchdog,
Transparency International ranks Nigeria as the 36th most corrupt
country globally! Nigeria placed 139th of the 176 countries assessed
scoring 27% in contrast with the least corrupt countries; Denmark,
Finland and New Zealand which scored 90%.
7. A survey of the social media showed that 98% of Nigerians who
commented not only agreed with the country’s corruption ranking but in
fact felt Transparency International was too generous to Nigeria. A few
of the comments read: “We don’t need a report to tell us what we already
know” another “Wow, I taught (sic) we were No.1, I wonder what country
(SIC) are before us. We all need prayers and serious fasting for our
nation”. The other “to be fair, I always thought Nigeria is the most
corrupt country in the world” yet another “Me too… 35th is actually
being nice”.
8. A list of manifestation of corruption especially in the public
sector of Nigeria is legion ranging from direct diversion of public
funds to private pockets, contract over-pricing, bribery, impunity,
nepotism, general financial recklessness, fraudulent borrowing and debt
management, public assets striping, electoral fraud, shielding of
corrupt public officers among others.
9. It is a well established fact that corruption thrives well in any
environment or society where there is community indifference or lack of
enforcement policies. Societies with a culture of ritualized gift giving
where the line between acceptable and non-acceptable gifts is often
hard to draw. Societies in which values have been overthrown by
materialism, societies in which laws are observed more in the breach.
10. It would appear that these environmental preconditions are all
prevalent in the Nigerian society and no wonder therefore that
corruption has found fertile soil to blossom.
11. As noted earlier, corruption is Nigeria’s greatest problem and a
cancerous impediment to any development effort planned or envisaged. It
follows then that if Nigeria is to witness true development, then
corruption must be dealt with decisively and comprehensively. It is a
duty requiring will, zeal and passion on the part of the three arms of
government and indeed the entire citizenry.
The Role Of The Legislature.
12. The legislature plays three basic functions in a democracy, to
wit Legislation, Representation and Oversight. It is within this scope
of authority that the legislature can and indeed does impact on
governance and can thus participate in the prosecution of the war
against corruption in Nigeria .
13. Under the legislative function, Section 4 of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 provides to the effect that the
National Assembly shall have the power to make laws for peace, order and
good government of the country. More specifically, under Section 15 (5)
of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy,
it provides, “The state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse
of office”. Again in Section 2 (2) (b) and (c)’ government is enjoined
to harness the resources of the nation for the common good and to
prevent the concentration of wealth or the means of production and
exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group.
14. The responsibility of fashioning the legal framework for the
fight against corruption and corrupt practices is thereby vested in the
legislature.
15. In the exercise of this mandate, the National Assembly has
enacted, the Code of Conduct Bureau and Code of Conduct Tribunal, The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2002 and
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission
Act 2000′ for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting Public
Officers and other persons suspected of involvement in corrupt
practices. In both legislation, the Commissions are given extensive
powers of investigation and prosecution to deal with all cases of
corrupt practices and abuse of office that may arise.
16. With respect to the specific objective of injecting transparency
and accountability in the management of the resources of the nation, the
National Assembly enacted the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and the
Public Procurement Act 2007. Both legislations make copious provisions
aimed at engendering transparency and accountability in the public
space.
17. I make bold to say that if the provisions of these legislation
and indeed others were diligently enforced, significant milestones would
have been accomplished in the fight against corruption and corrupt
practices in Nigeria. Sadly however these Legislations are observed more
in the breach by the majority including government and government
agencies.
18. I am pleased to report that the House of Representatives is
currently working on some proposals for the reform of these laws with a
view to reinforcing the independence of the agencies administering these
laws including their mode of constitution and disbandment. I wish
therefore to call on members of the NBA and indeed all Nigerians to
prepare to buy into these reforms by making their inputs now or when the
time comes for Public Hearings.
19. One other area which has been of great concern is the culture of
undue secrecy that surrounded the operation of government. Whereas our
Constitution enjoins in its Section 14 (2) (c) that ” the participation
of the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with
the provisions of this Constitution” government business tended to be
run like secret societies to the exclusion of the citizenry. It was
clear that this tended and was indeed intended to aid the concealment of
corruption such that even in times of suspicion, members of the public
including gentlemen of the fourth realm could not access public
information.
20. The National Assembly has passed the Freedom of Information Act
2011 to enhance the right of access to public records and information
about public institutions. This is one Legislation that attracted
massive public interest and it is my expectation that Nigerians will
make maximum use of the right created under this legislation in order to
defeat the culture of undue secrecy in the running of government
business.
21. The other function of the legislature is oversight of the other
arms of government. Section 88 mandates the National Assembly to
investigate the conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry or
government department charged or intended to be charged with the duty
of or responsibility for
i) Executing or administering laws enacted by the National Assembly or
ii) Disbursing or administering moneys appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly
The main object of investigation according to sub section 2 (a) and
(b) of Section 88 is for law reform and to expose corruption,
inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws or
administration or disbursement of public funds. Similar provision is
made in Section 128 of the constitution for legislatures at the
sub-national levels.
22. Another critical role of the Legislature is the provision of
adequate funding for Anti Corruption Agencies through appropriation.
Unfortunately efforts to exercise this function by the legislature is
often misconstrued by the executive arm and even some members of the
public. Yet without adequate funding the anti corruption agencies cannot
execute their functions satisfactorily. I wish to call on the other
arms of government and indeed the general public to corroborate with us
in the exercise of this mandate .
23.It is in exercise of this mandate that the House of
Representatives and indeed the National Assembly has been carrying out
oversight of government agencies and series of investigations or probes
over allegations of corruption and corrupt practices. As you are all
aware, the legislature has over the years exposed several cases of
corruption.
24. It is important for me to stress once again at this stage that
the mandate of the legislature is to expose corruption. It does not have
further mandate to prosecute. That mandate of prosecution lies with the
Executive and Judiciary. I have heard public comments to the effect
that the public is tired of investigation by the legislature since the
people indicted in their findings are never prosecuted and sanctioned.
25. Let me reiterate that the Legislature will not abdicate its
responsibilities on the account of inaction or negligence of another arm
of government. If nothing else we will at least continue to name and
shame. As noted earlier, the war against corruption is the
responsibility of all and I call on the citizens of this great nation to
rise in the exercise of their constitutional power to insist on the
prosecution and sanctioning of persons indicted by the Legislature or by
any agency whether public or private concerned in the fight against
corruption.
26. In the exercise of the mandate of oversight the legislature is
able to audit both pre and post expenditure of agencies of government
and to give appropriate direction on the administration and disbursement
of funds and execution of programs and projects under the Appropriation
Act. Indeed the Public Accounts Committee of both the House and Senate
has the specific mandate to review the disbursement and administration
of public funds by ministries, Departments and Agencies.
27. As representatives of the people, Legislators will continue to be
for all Nigerians their eyes to see, ears to hear and mouth to speak
out against corruption anywhere and at anytime it rears its ugly head.
28. The task may appear daunting but I wish to assure that wit will,
zeal, passion and determination we shall eventually overcome this hydra
headed dragon. Only let us be single minded that it’s a task that must
be done in order to preserve the country for posterity.
Thank you all for your attention and God bless Nigeria.
Source
