LAGOS—ALLIANCE for Democracy (AD) has described the Federal Government’s rejection of the Transparency International’s classification of Nigeria under President Olusegun Obasanjo as the third most corrupt country as baffling just as Afenifere, took exception to the Federal Government denial of endemic corruption in the country.
In a press release signed by the party’s national Publicity secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the AD argued that it had become obvious to impartial observers of the national political scene that Nigeria is the most corrupt nation in the world.
Price Adeyeye said: “The Federal Government seems completely blind to what everyone else can see. That Nigeria is the third most corrupt nation on earth, (a slight improvement from its previous number two position) is not the surprise. The big surprise is that Nigeria is not in the number one position. How can any nation be more corrupt than Nigeria.”
The AD spokesman blamed what he described as the pervasive corruption in the country on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). His words: “only the PDP government cannot see the pervasive corruption everywhere. The National Assembly is a theatre where this is played out daily. What graphic evidence does one need than that of two senators exchanging blows in the corridors of the National Assembly over the misapplication of committee’s funds. Or ministers and Senators (all of PDP) trading accusations on the sums of money demanded for ministerial confirmation.”
On the Transparency International rating, Prince Adeyeye said: “President Obasanjo is said to be a founding member of TI. That means that he either participated in drafting the criteria for evaluating nations on corruption index or at least he should understand it. In which case one would have expected a more mature reaction from his administration. Or was he expecting that, because he is a founding member, he should be immune from its judgement, no matter the extent of his administration’s corruption?”
On the claim by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that the TI index was outdated and misleading since the government had established bodies to fight corruption in the country, Adeyeye said that had never being the problem since successive governments had always set up agencies either to fight the scourge or for ethical re-orientation. He said what had been lacking was the will to sincerely tackle the monster.
Afenifere’s statement
In similar vein, Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, described the government anti-corruption battle as an mere smokescreen.
In a statement signed by the group’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Yinka Odumakin, Afenifere said the clarification from TI that the survey involved 146 countries and was limited to the public sector, “especially the abuse of office for private gains” struck at the heart of the corruption scourge in Nigeria.
Detailing acts of corruption in Nigeria since the Obasanjo administration came on the scene on May 29, 1999, Afenifere said “rather than disputing the indisputable, the sensible thing for Nigeria to do is to begin to do a self examination of itself".
