Atiku Abubakar has described corruption and lack of public sector accountability as a huge scourge in Nigeria.
The PDP presidential front runner said “in our fight against corruption our target will be to beat Botswana which is rated as the most transparent country in Africa. Corruption stunts growth, hobbles development, promotes nepotism, despises merit, enthrones mediocrity, undermines democracy and good governance, subverts formal processes, reduces accountability and fair representation in policy making, undermines the rule of law, results in the unequal provision of services, erodes the institutional capacity and effective functioning of the machinery of government.”
The former Vice President said all these must stop because “as President, I promise a dogged commitment to using all legitimate means to ensure that corruption in both public and private sectors is eradicated. A robust, professional and independent anti-corruption agency is mandatory because in spite of the efforts undertaken since 1999, including the creation of new anti-corruption agencies like the EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau, corruption remains endemic in the Nigerian public and private sectors”.
Continuing he said “Leadership must be accountable, impunity must be deterred, the rule of law must be respected and transparency must be entrenched. We will stop treating symptoms and focus on the root cause(s) of corruption.”
