Alhaji Lai Mohammed
Major opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said the recent rating by Transparency International in its 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) portrays that President Jonathan lied about his claims on the state of corruption in the nation.
ACN in a communique issued yesterday in Ilorin, Kwara State capital by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, expressed concern over the increasing rate of corruption in the country.
The party said “harvest of corruption scandals’’ that had dogged the Jonathan Administration was probably unprecedented in the country’s history and that this had been attested to by the global anti-corruption body in its latest CPI. “Sadly, despite the Presidency’s self-delusion, Nigeria remains among the most corrupt nations on earth. “According to the latest CPI, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and one of the continent’s biggest economies was not listed among the top 35 least corrupt nations in Africa, even when it was ranked the 35th most corrupt nations in the world. “It is also instructive that Liberia and Sierra Leone, which Nigeria helped to liberate from the throes of war are now doing much better in fighting corruption than the country (Nigeria), just like much smaller and less-endowed nations like Niger, Gambia, Burkina Faso and Mali are better rated,’’ the party said. ‘’The massive oil subsidy scam, the Malabu oil scandal, the pension scam and now the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting N2.1 billion scam are just a few of the corruption scandals that have dogged the Jonathan administration. In all of these and more, the administration has shown an amazing lack of political will in investigating the scams and prosecuting perpetrators. “Worst still, key administrative officials have shown from their careless comments that they either do not understand what it means to fight corruption or they are just trivialising it. One of such is the Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was quoted as saying that Nigerians were unable to get petroleum products without stress because they demanded transparency and accountability in the oil sector. “What the minister is saying, in essence is that uninterrupted fuel supply as well as probity and accountability cannot go hand in hand, that Nigerians must choose between enjoying an abundant fuel supply riddled with corruption and a well-managed, corruption-free oil sector. “In saner climes and with an administration that is committed to fighting corruption, such a minister will be long gone,’’ ACN said. The party claimed that the increasing rate of corruption in the nation shows that Jonathan is also not competent to tackle the ‘monster’ .
“President Jonathan must wake from his slumber and face the reality that corruption is fast eating deep into the soul of Nigeria, having already decimated the body. He must stop playing the ostrich and lead the way in the fight against corruption before it consumes the country,’’ ACN said.
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