JUST IN: ANEEJ decries Tinubu’s appointment of special investigator for CBN

A leading anti-corruption Civil Society Organization, CSO, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, Wednesday, decried President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of a special investigator, the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Jim Osayande Obazee, as a Special Investigator of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, based on the argument that there are anti-graft agencies that could discharge the same assignment.

Speaking on the issue, the Executive Director, ANEEJ, Rev David Ugolor, pointed out that strengthening of existing government anti-corruption agencies to play such roles more professionally and efficiently remains imperative in the war against corruption in Nigeria.

Ugolor further stated that key government institutions saddled with the responsibility to deal with financial crimes in the country such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corruption and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, must be strengthened by the Tinubu administration to holistically deal with corruption in both public and private sectors.

ANEEJ, is a leading anti-corruption watchdog in Nigeria and anchor of the anti-corruption cluster of the Nigeria Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) project.

He said: “We wholeheartedly welcome President Ahmed Bola Tinubu administration’s commitment to fight corruption in accordance with provisions of section 15 (5) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and it is a step in the right direction to foster continuity and sustenance of the Anti-corruption efforts of the previous administration; but we are of the strong opinion that the fight against corruption should not be politicized and perceived as witch hunting exercise.

“We are happy that President Tinubu has put the fight against corruption on the front burner and has taken a first step as promised during his campaign.

“We commend the President for the anti-corruption move and urge his administration to extend the anti-corruption fight to other MDAs to sanitize the system and block further leakages not only in the CBN and related Government Business Entities (GBEs) but across all MDAs.

“Key government institutions saddled with the responsibility to deal with financial crimes in the country such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corruption and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) must be strengthened by the Tinubu administration to holistically deal with the menace of corruption in the country.

“ANEEJ recently carried out an assessment of Nigeria’s implementation of its commitment to the London Anti-Corruption Conference and the Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) commitments. Key findings from the assessment report on the implementation of anti-corruption commitments in Nigeria showed that actions need to be taken on several issues. Some laws have been enacted and certain actions need to be taken to drive their implementation. There are also pending laws (Whistleblower Protection Bill and Witness Protection Bill) that should be enacted to strengthen anti-corruption work in the country.

“The recently adopted national anti-corruption strategy also requires action to avoid the shortfalls of the past and the anti-corruption agencies need to be strengthened to be able to handle emerging issues.”

However, he made it clear that ANEEJ has “nothing personal about the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Mr. Jim Osayande Obazee, as a Special Investigator of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other related entities and their capability to discharge the assignment given to them.”

Meanwhile, the ANEEJ boss said there is also the need to build strong public institutions to fight corruption and plug financial leakages in Nigeria.

It would be noted that the Africa Network for Environment and its SCALE partners last week organized a National Anti-Corruption Conference in Abuja which called on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to roll out his anti-corruption plans for the country in a communique which detailed priority area for the new administration to strengthen the fight against corruption in Nigeria.