Navigating the Nexus of the Anti-Corruption and Good Governance in Nigeria: Striking a Balance for Economic, Social and Environmental Justice
A Lecture By Olanipekun Olukoyede, Executive Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) @20th Anniversary of HEDA Resource Centre held on Saturday, 24th February, 2024
It is my pleasure to be in your midst today, and be part of this event marking the 20th anniversary of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda, HEDA, arguably one of the most illustrious civil society organizations in Nigeria.
I come bearing sincere greetings from the management and staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,
as we salute HEDA for its impactful strides over the past two decades. Many would not know this, but record shows that HEDA is one of the most prolific CSOs in terms of the number of petitions it has forwarded to the EFCC, many of them leading to investigation.
HEDA remains a pillar of anti-corruption advocacy and a consistent voice for public accountability and transparency in a crowed community of non-profit organisations, where it is increasingly becoming difficult isolating the committed from hordes of pretenders.
It is in recognition of the long-standing efforts of HEDA and its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju to deepen the anti-corruption fight and improve accountability across all spheres of our national life that I welcome the invitation to speak at this event.
I am happy to share my thoughts with you on an issue that tugs at our collective heartstrings, knowing that both the EFCC and HEDA, are on the same page, which is that we are resolved to see the end of corruption, the widely acclaimed harbinger of every ill bedevilling our dear country.
The theme of this public lecture: “Navigating the Nexus of the Anti-Corruption and Good Governance in Nigeria: Striking a Balance for Economic, Social and Environmental Justice,” is responsive to the overarching need of our nation to not only break the shackles of corruption but translate the investment in resources and time in the anti-corruption enterprise into meaningful impact on the economic, environmental and social lives of Nigerians.
Between Anti-Corruption and Good Governance
Establishing the link between anti-corruption and good governance is not a complex proposition. But it is imperative to properly contextualize their nexus, as the contextual framework within which a system is located is ultimately important, given that it provides the bearings and supplies the parameters for measuring its essence.
Usually when we speak of good governance what readily comes to mind is a system that delivers the expected dividends in terms of economic, social and other needs of citizens. It is associated with the accountable and effective means of obtaining and using public power and resources in the pursuit of acceptable social goods.
The dominant theme here is public good as the defining essence of good governance. Implicit in this process is the observance of the rule of law, transparency and accountability, and partnership between the state and society through robust citizens’ participation.
On the flip side, the absence of most of these attributes of good governance is emblematic of poor governance, which is characterised by lack of openness and accountability, lack of fairness, prioritisation of personal interest above public good, rule of might and strongmen as against rule of law and due process. Above all, corruption is the epitaph of a poor governance system.
Consequently, discussions around good governance inexorably coalesce on corruption as the latter is the oxygen that fuel dysfunctional and corrupt systems. The absence of corruption has often been shown to increase the efficiency of public and private enterprise and thus create favourable conditions for economic growth
Nations who desire good governance invariably invest in anti-corruption by building institutions, processes and systems that make corruption less attractive. When governance is weak, resources endowments may result in poverty, corruption and conflict
Nigeria’s Experience with anti-corruption and good governance
Good governance is a scarce currency in the Nigerian public space and many scholars have identified corruption as the most important factor responsible for poor governance culture in Nigeria.
It is the reason the nation’s wealth has not translated into prosperity for the vast majority of our citizens. Stealing of public resources by those vested with public trust, and the unconscionable tolerance of such thievery by the victims (citizens) is the embarrassing paradox of the Nigerian experience.
Successive administrations in Nigeria, therefore, have strived to deal with the threat of corruption with various anti-corruption programmes. They range from the Ethical Revolution of the Shehu Shagari regime, War Against Indiscipline of the Buhari/Idiagbon era to the Mass Mobilisation for Economic and Social Recovery, MAMSER, of the Babangida administration,
But it was not until the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo that Nigeria truly began to fight corruption in a predictable, formal and sustainable manner.
The point of departure for the administration was that, unlike others before it, it went beyond tokenism in establishing institutions that are today the backbone of the anti-graft war.
Institutions such as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, ICPC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative NEITI, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, were established by the Obasanjo administration in an effort to address the different dimensions and manifestations of corruption, threatening effective delivery of good governance, social and economic value to Nigeria.
The administration of late Umaru Yar Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari may not have established legacy anti-corruption institutions, but they all emphasised the need to fight corruption. Indeed anti- anti-corruption was one of three pillars of the Buhari administration which established a Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption and went ahead to design a National Anti-corruption Strategy for Nigeria.
Value of Anti-corruption
Many years after most of the anti-corruption institutions were established, it is tempting to look back and ask what difference they have made in promoting good governance in Nigeria, including promoting accountability and transparency, rule of law, equity and fairness and delivery of public good.
As the Chairman of the EFCC, my approach will be to ask us to imagine Nigeria without the EFCC? Look at the number of economic and financial crimes offenders the Commission has prosecuted and brought to justice, look at the reform of the justice system instigated by the Commission including the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and the Evidence Act, look at the reform of the Money Laundering and Cybercrime laws and their effect on rule of law and confidence in the Nigerian financial system, look at the quantum of assets recovered by the Commission and proceeds paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the federation, look at the impact of the Commission’s collaboration with foreign law enforcement organisations and development partners on the nation’s international image.
The impact of these measures cut across all spheres of our national life.
Other anti-corruption organisations have been no less impactful. NEITI for instance has deployed data analytics in tackling the opacity of the Nigerian oil and Gas sector. It has developed a robust yet flexible methodology for monitoring and reconciling company payments and government revenues. The Bureau of Public Procurement, too, has made tracking of public procurement less cumbersome.
Issues of Relevance
Perhaps the point of interest is not whether the anti-corruption institutions have been effective but the relevance of these strides to the social, economic and environmental condition of the people. For instance, the prosecution of persons indicted of corruption was expected to have a retributive effect in the sense that the rule of law works and no one gets away with stealing the commonwealth. But this effect is vitiated by the reality that matters drag endlessly in court while the corrupt still enjoy the reward of their illicit enterprise. Even more galling is that the hard fought conviction of some politically exposed persons for corruption are reduced to worthless enterprise when they are offered state pardon and welcomed to their communities with lavish reception fit for royalty.
This shameful ‘adoption’ of looters speaks most eloquently to the irreverent hurry to appropriate and hoist dubious values as those the society must go by. Increasingly, the drivers of our social instincts and reality are those who have questionable wealth and those obviously not restrained by morality. It raises questions about what truly constitutes social justice, at least the Nigerian form of it.
How the public views anti-corruption efforts is at a critical intersection of the war on corruption itself. Public perception and reactions can either boost or doom anticorruption efforts. It is not up for debate that whilst enforcement is important, the subtle and far more effective war on corruption is in linking for the people, the stark evidence of corruption to the sustainable institutional remediation efforts.
Optimizing Public Good
Greater impact could be made by the anti-corruption agencies and institutions when the focus is in furthering public good. Governments everywhere exist for the good and well-being of the citizens. The effectiveness of government is evaluated in terms of whether their policies are detrimental to, or beneficial to public interest.
Soon after I assumed the leadership of the EFCC I issued a directive to my operatives that, going concerns should not be shut purely because they are subject of investigation as doing so, deny the economy of their benefits including the salaries of their employees and suppliers in their value chain.
We must prioritize the interest of our people and nation above all else. Even nations after which we model our anti-corruption template, do not compromise their national interests which is the reason assets returns is such a frustrating endeavour.
Framers of the 1999 Constitution were conscious of this objective when they stated in the preamble that it shall be the duty of the Nigerian State to promote “the good government and welfare of all persons in our country, on the principles of freedom, equality and justice, and for the purpose of consolidating the unity of our people”
The matter of public good does not exclude the input of non-state actors. Thus, all of us, whether as citizens, public servants, corporate leaders, professionals, have roles to play in upholding the public good.
How many Nigerians in public offices today are motivated by the need to improve the lot of their people? Yes, we witness the regular spectacle of politicians making one donation or the other, during the election cycle. But, how many citizens benefit from such a gesture? Is what is provided what the people actually need? The public interest test of any policy or project or gesture is, if wider public good is served.
Government’s failure to optimize public good is a critical index of failure of governance. Our political landscape is littered by programmes and projects conceived ostensibly for public good but in reality driven by personal interest. Once, Nigeria had a programme of close circuit camera installation in major cities. It was designed ostensibly to improve the security of the people. It never worked for a day yet, some citizens smiled to their bank!
Public interest is also not served when the consideration for law making is the personal interest of law makers.
Even in the judiciary, the fabled hope of the common man, a lot of judicial pronouncements made on technical grounds leaves many wondering where public interest lies.
Of what public good is the role of a lawyer hiding under client’s privilege to become conduit for money laundering? Of what good is the banker who schools public servants to hide their ill-gotten wealth in safe havens abroad?
Now, we live in a country where heads of national agencies are competing to have institutions sited in their villages. When projects are sited in places other than the ideal location, public interest is sacrificed.
The implication of our disposition to feathering our individual nest at the expense of public good is already staring us in the face. Children, some of whom have never felt the meaning of governance are now on the loose. And no one is safe any longer. Even those who thought that had fraudulently acquired enough money to last four generations have suddenly realized that what they have built is a mere castle on quicksand which could vanish in a moment of uncontrolled public rage.
Enlightened self-interest, dictates that we do something about delivering public good. That is what will guarantee the future of this country.
It is necessary to stress that the EFCC will remain committed to ensuring that the resources of this nation are not cornered by a few elites to the detriment of the majority of citizens. We are putting in place measures that will make stealing of public resources difficult and where it occurs, that the culprits do not go scot-free.
On January 31, in Abuja, we launched the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Project for Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs. It is a programme designed to prevent corruption in the most vulnerable agencies of government.
But it is not a fight that we can win alone.
To this end, we are taking deliberate steps to engage with a broad spectrum of special interest groups –youths, professional and women’s groups, faith-based bodies and community-based organizations in strengthening their capacities to identify and quickly deal with suspected cases of corruption in their environments.
That is the long-haul approach, which certainly comes up against the headwinds of society’s craving for instant gratification. But, we are persuaded that is the way to go.
On this note, I thank you for your time and wish HEDA many more years of success in service to humanity.
