Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has revealed how the elite and religious leaders have remained cogs in the wheel of progress in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
Osinbajo disclosed how they inundate him with calls, whenever he wants to sack any corrupt public officer, to rescind his decision.
The vice president stated this during a plenary session on corruption and the rule of law, moderated by the founding Dean of Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, in the United Kingdom, Ngaire Woods, at the ongoing 24th Nigerian Economic Summit, in Abuja.
Osinbajo said the Buhari administration is not deterred by the development, and added that Nigeria, as a country, stands to gain tremendously if corruption is substantially tackled.
“I would like to refer to the Nigerian elite, and it’s probably not fair to be that broad, but practically, every segment, because people who have access to you, they could be political leaders, religious leaders, business leaders, whoever has access to you, we have a system where people just feel like, ‘why don’t you just give this guy a break?’ Which, again, is part of the problem. You don’t get one call, you get several calls.
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“The Buhari administration is doing so much to tackle grand corruption and systemic corruption.
“Since I became the vice president, I’ve seen how much impact corruption can have on a country.
“I was commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Lagos State for eight years. One of the most frustrating parts in the fight against corruption is the slow pace of prosecution,” Osinbajo explained.
He, however, added that the conviction of two former executive governors, secured by the Federal Government, has shown that the hand of justice may be slow, but, it would eventually catch up. He also spoke of reforms remain important, and pointed out that the federal government has embarked on a number of them, including criminal justice reform.
Also speaking at the event, NESG Chairman Asue Ighodalo, said the summit remains a leading voice in the discourse to create an enabling business environment that encourages private investment and sustainable economic growth.
“This ummit shall analyse the constraints to effective governance and institutions using five pillars, which together, provide a framework for distilling delegates’ perspectives and recommendations. The pillars are: corruption and rule of law, effective public institutions, sustainable economic opportunities, participation and citizens’ rights and human development.
“The overarching objective of this summit is to stir up discussions, create and share a unifying narrative on good governance and strong institutions and, thereby, focus our governments at all levels on the critical and urgent task of moving 87 million of our people out of extreme poverty,” he added.
