Corruption Ranking: Nigeria Dropped Because FG Failed To Account For Billions Of COVID-19 Funds – Hamzat Lawal

Anti-corruption activist, Hamzat Lawal, said Nigeria’s score dropped further on the global corruption index because the Federal Government failed to be accountable to citizens regarding how billions of COVID-19 funds were spent.

Lawal stated this while featuring on a TVC discussion programme monitored by THE WHISTLER on Thursday.

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He spoke against the backdrop of the 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released on Wednesday by Transparency International which showed that Nigeria continued on a downward spiral on the corruption ranking.

The report showed that Nigeria ranked 154 out of 180 countries, falling five places from 149 in 2020. But in its reaction, the Nigerians Government said that the report is an indictment of the citizens and not the Buhari administration.

Lawal said Nigeria’s rank on the 2021 CPI was expected because of how the government handled billions earmarked to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on the citizens.

“So, I am not surprised that Nigeria is doing badly on the TI report because when you talk to the average Nigerian, they do not see our government fighting corruption.

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“Let’s look at how Africa manage the covid-19 resources, over $50bn that came to the shores of Africa after several donations, aide and substance supports, and let’s look at our home Nigeria.

“I think we didn’t do well because a lot of citizens lost our trust in how Government managed Covid-19 resources. Talk of how our government could not give us a detail breakdown of how much money they got, what was disbursed, to what government agencies, and how they utilised this money,” Lawal said.

He said when his organization reached out to the office of the Accountant General of the Federation for details of the spending, they were informed that, “N35 billion was accrued to COVID-19 account and N30bn was released. He didn’t tell us who this money was released to, and what the remaining N5bn was going to be used for”.

The TI report also showed that the nation fell by one point based on its score of 24 out of 100 in 2021, compared to 25 in 2020 and 26 in 2019.

But the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr Bolaji Owasanoye, has berated the global anti-corruption coalition over the report.

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Owasanoye said the nation should question TI’s assessment parameters which gave western countries receiving illicit financial flows a clean bill while thumbing down countries that are victims of graft.

According to him, only five out of the 13 data sources used by TI were current while eight others were based on 2017, 2018 and 2019 data, which were also used in previous years without taking cognizance of the actions or new developments in the country.

Responding, Lawal expressed disappointment over the ICPC chairman’s remark. He said that he anticipated that the government will reject the report but expected the government to use a counter-narrative.

“So, you said you are fighting corruption what are the impacts of the fight and how are you mobilizing citizens to join you in the fight against corruption?” Lawal queried.

He, however, urged Nigerians not to fall prey to politicians in the 2023 general elections. He urged the people to look at promises made by politicians in the past and engage them on how they have met the commitments.

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