Local governments will soon be on the front burner of the war against graft by the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The commission has signalled its desire to “buy in” people at the grassroots to achieve its desire to fight corruption, especially in the councils.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede revealed this during a two-day workshop for local government officials in Kaduna State, reports The Nation.
Olukayode, who was represented at the event organised by the state’s Ministry of Local Government by the Zonal Commander of the commission Aisha Abubakar, spoke on “Enhancing Fiscal Discipline in the Management of Local Government.”
The EFCC chairman explained that the decision to beam the searchlight on the councils was because of wastages and a near lack of democracy dividends at the grassroots.
He argued that once the EFCC was able to achieve the policy objective of driving economic development by stopping stealing and wastage of public funds, governance would become simple.
Olukayede said: “All over the world and especially in Africa, local government is structured as a means of enhancing development and service delivery, improving governance and deepening democracy.
“Fiscal discipline has to do with prudent management of resources. It has to do with financial discipline and integrity, accountability and transparency in the allocation of resources.
“The local environment in Nigeria is where the bulk of our people live. This means that local government administration must be sensitive to the needs of the people. There is no way we can have enough resources for the people, but when we apply discipline in the allocation of what we have, we will be able to meet many of the needs at the grassroots.
“The EFCC under my watch will encourage genuine efforts geared towards meeting the needs of the people. We will require local people to be ready to offer information to us on how their resources are being used”.
To this end, Olukayede urged Nigerians, especially those at the grassroots to be more determined in their quest for a better life by joining the agency in exposing corrupt practices.
He added: “Let me stress here, that corruption has no colour, no tribe and religion. The people who steal Nigeria’s resources are both Christians and Muslims. It is not a battle between religions; the corruption fight is also not between tribes. What we are fighting in this country is a battle between good and evil; it is a collective battle for the soul of Nigeria; a battle for the future generation of yet unborn Nigerians; it is indeed, the battle for the future of Africa.
“We must not create an environment where when we punish people because they have engaged in corruption, we will give them protection because they come from our tribes.
“The quest to ensure that we do not create an environment for the corrupt to take over our society belongs to every one of us. It should not be left only to the EFCC and sister anti-graft agencies. It is against this backdrop that I reiterate the need for buy-in of the grassroots, which is the local governments, in the fight against graft.”
