I am pleased to be at this passing out parade of Detective Inspectors of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. I stand before you today with a sense of accomplishment. One of the specific objectives of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy and the National Action Plan on Open Government Partnership is to institutionally strengthen Anti-Corruption Agencies in Nigeria.

2.                 I approved the recruitment and training of cadets of different cadres within a period of 3 years, as a special force to fight corruption. I have also approved the opening of Zonal Offices of the EFCC. I am happy that steady progress is being made as I am aware that within the past 2 years, 665 cadets have completed training and are usefully deployed to zonal offices.

 
3.                 I have listened attentively to the report in the speech presented by the Chairman of EFCC. The report is an attestation that the right policies have been put in place to fight corruption and the fight against corruption is becoming much more effective. I make bold to say that Nigeria is winning the war against corruption.  I congratulate the EFCC on its good work and I urge that the current level of success be sustained and accelerated.

4.                 Our fight against corruption is being recognized by the international community as real and effective. The face of the country abroad is also changing as the international community is beginning to see Nigeria making substantial progress in the enthronement of transparency, accountability and good governance.

5.     The President of the 7th Session of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) had this to say when announcing Nigeria as Vice-Chairman of Conference of State Parties: “It is an election well deserved. Nigeria has demonstrated remarkable determination in the fight against corruption”. Nigeria retained the position of Vice Chair of the 8th Session. During the 10th Session of the Conference of State Parties, the Implementation Review Group Report also noted the high number of Asset Recovery cases successfully initiated by Nigeria in cooperation with other countries under the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) framework.

6.                 The measures systematically being put in place to fight corruption through systems reforms have also been yielding results. The reforms are aimed at eliminating discretionary behaviour of public officials and disabling corruption.
 
7.                 Many Nigerians measure the success of the fight against corruption from law enforcement perspective only. This means that the fight against corruption is reduced to the quantum of recoveries made and number of cases successfully prosecuted.

8.                 While it is important that we continue to fish out and punish corrupt persons, this government has equally been assiduously working on preventing corruption from taking place thereby stemming it out of our system through the channels of a series of institutional reforms.

9.                 We have been working within the frameworks of National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership, National Anti-Corruption Strategy which is an adaptation of United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the Global Forum for Asset Recovery (GFAR).  Several of the reforms have been effective for several years with great impact on revenue and expenditure management. These include the GIFMIS, IPPIS, Single Treasury Account, and Bank Verification Number.

10.             Executive Orders, such as Preservation of Suspicious Assets Connected with Corruption (Executive Order 6), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Act 2018; and Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2018 have been operating for a few years and effectively limiting system opportunities for corrupt practices.

11.            This Administration, right from the inception, aligned with the Open Governance Partnership (OGP) and Global Forum for Asset Recovery in addition to existing commitments to AU and ECOWAS conventions against corruption, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).  These frameworks focus significantly on systems reforms in order to prevent corruption. Nigeria’s active participation in these global anti-corruption platforms means that the country is subjecting itself to periodic review of its progress in implementing the articles of conventions thus the fight against corruption.

12.            Nigeria’s Action Plan for Open Government Partnership contains commitments such as Fiscal Transparency, Disclosure of Beneficial Owners of Companies by Corporate Affairs Commission and Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), open Contracting Data Standards anchored by Bureau of Public Procurement and generally to curb corruption.

13.            The objective of this administration is to institute a level of transparency in governance through mainly information technology platforms. Just as advanced democracies and some developing countries, I am determined that within a short period, citizens would be able to follow core government operations on line.

14.            Our government has reached advanced stage in Fiscal Transparency. The Appropriation Bill is placed online within hours of its presentation in National Assembly. The Budget Office of the Federation has been engaging interest groups in the budget cycle. A pilot scheme of 10 MDAs has been test running online display of their budgets and expenditure movements.

15.             Our commitment to online disclosure of Beneficial Owners of Companies generally within the framework of the Corporate Affairs Commission and in the Extractive Industries through NEITI is on course. I am aware the portals are ready but owners of companies are unwilling to comply with all disclosure requirements. May I use this opportunity to urge all well-meaning Nigerians to fully comply.

16.            The Open Government Partnership Secretariat, in collaboration with NEITI and Facility for Oil Sector Transparency is working hard to implement the Open Governance extractives commitments which include full online disclosure of all oil, gas and mining contracts in the area of exploration and production, exports, offtakings and Swaps.

17.            We have started Quarterly disclosures by NNPC, its subsidiaries and PPMC of sale-level data on oil and gas sales. We have also developed Beneficial Ownership Register for companies that hold exploration, production and export licenses and published online.

18.            We have made substantial progress in making available to the public, data on all contracts across government agencies. The Bureau of Public Procurement has test run the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal where such data would be uploaded.

19.             My resolve is to ensure that the reforms are deepened such that there will be no hiding place for corrupt persons and proceeds of corruption. My aim is to ensure that no government financial transaction is done in secret and all are subjected to public scrutiny. Nigeria has been ranked by the World Bank as one of the top 10 reforming countries in the world. I assure you that we shall do even better.

20.            I understand that, soon, there may be need to introduce a legal framework enforcing reporting of all non-classified public sector operations online, just as in many other countries. This would facilitate quicker attainment of our goals on open governance and the decimation of corruption in the country.

21.             Given the increased success of Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption Agencies such as the EFCC in recoveries of proceeds of crime and successful prosecution of corruption cases, discussion on the management of such assets have been up-scaled in the public domain. Commitment of the National Action Plan for Open Government Partnership stated Nigeria’s need for a coordinated and centralised agency for the management of recovered assets. It is in line with this commitment that I approved the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Regulations 2019.

22.            I am determined that recovered assets are effectively managed with greater impact on fiscal operations of government and social investment policies of our administration.

23.            To the Cadets, I congratulate you for persevering through the one year of intensive training. As law enforcement officers, I expect that you have attained high endurance level and the intellectual capacity to investigate and facilitate EFCC’s prosecutorial powers. I have great confidence in you.

24.            May I use this opportunity to appreciate the efforts of the Nigerian Defence Academy in training our young anti-corruption warriors.  I expect that the collaboration between the Military and EFCC in training anti-corruption cadets will continue to the benefit of the nation.

25.               Thank you and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.