by Peregba Jerry
The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, has said that the greatest challenge facing Nigeria at the moment is corruption.
According to him, corruption was responsible for all the negative indexes the country was known for.
Owasanoye said this at a capacity-building workshop for members of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, in Abuja.
He said, “Corruption is the enemy of development and good governance. Corruption is Nigeria’s greatest challenge and is directly associated with national security challenges, current economic decline, poverty expansion, reduced life expectancy, high mortality and deteriorating livelihood experienced by citizens.”
He called for concerted efforts from both state and non-state actors in tackling the problem so as to create a better Nigeria.
The ICPC chairman urged the National Assembly to deploy its oversight powers on government agencies and departments as well as its legislative control over public expenditure and audit of public accounts to effectively curb corruption in the public sector.
According to him, “The fight against corruption is our collective responsibility and not the duty of the government alone. We must visualize the type of country and environment that we want to live in and bequeath to generations yet unborn.
“Our immediate objective is to reduce corruption in our lifetime to such an extent that it can no longer threaten our collective well-being, peace, development. The legislature can lead us to our collective vision through its constitutional mandate.”
