The CSOs said corrupt officials would continue to manipulate laws unless the various governments increase the tempo of all enacted laws.

A call has gone to governments at all levels to make good use of the Public Procurement Act (PPA), 2007, and the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, to prevent further, and control the wave of corruption in the nation’s public offices.

This was the submission on Sunday, by a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), at the end of their four-day 2022 Hack Corruption Workshop, jointly organised by the Accountability Lab (AL), Open Contracting Partnership (OCP), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.

According to the CSOs, unless the various governments increase the tempo of all enacted laws aimed at fighting corruption, perpetrators would continue to hide on the weak sides or improper implementation of such laws to have their way without being caught or attracting commensurate punishments.

They expressed concern that the laws had been ineffective, while the rate of corruption continues to soar because of the lack of transparency and improper provision of data to the public on contracts awarded by elected and appointed officials of the governments.

The coalition, however, expressed delight that despite the flaws identified in the implementation of the various anti-corruption laws, states like Edo, Plateau and Ekiti should be commended for raising the bar of compliance, describing the development as providing a ray of hope that Nigeria could still get things right in a not too distant time.

Originally published in The Peoples Gazette 

Kibo Ngowi