The Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC), has assured that it is working assiduously to ensure that the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), established by the Federal Government in 2017, is sustained after July 2021.
The Programme Officer of the RoLAC, Dala Pwanakei, disclosed this in Abuja, during the quarterly meeting of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Committee on the Implementation of the NACS.
He acknowledged the efforts of the National Programme Manager, EU – RoLAC, Danladi Plant; Anti-Corruption Component Manager, Emma Uche; the Consultant of the RoLAC, Dr. Mary Isabella Ada Chidi-Igbokwe; the Chairman, Technical Committee on the Implementation of the NACS, Ladidi B. Mohammed, among others, during the formative stages and execution.
Pwanakei, hinted that the RoLAC was intensively working with other partners to ensure that the NACS, which had made in roads is sustained in the determination of the Federal Government to fight corruption, by ensuring that due process in the expected deliverables in the over 800 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), were followed.
About 22 members of the committee, chaired by a Director in the Auditor General of the Federation’s office, Andrew Gandu, were inaugurated in 2018 by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Malami Abubakar (SAN), after the Federal Executive Council (FEC), chaired by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), had approved the NACS in 2017. Charles Ogugbuaja of The Guardian is a member of the committee.
The NACS is structured, having the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), comprising six Ministers with the AGF as the Chairman.
Reports of the M&E of the MDAs are submitted to the IMC for onward transmission to the FEC.
The strategy, which had initial four years (2017 – July, 2021) for the first phase, has the European Union’s financial support and managed by the British Council through the RoLAC.
Later, MacArthur Foundation, through the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), joined to give some financial support to the strategy.
Pwanakei said: “We are happy to see it progress so far. It is important to take further steps. We want to better what we have done.”
He regretted that the devastation of COVID-19 disturbed the operations of the NACS M&E committee in 2020, stressing: “Now, we are faced with the final end of the strategy. We at RoLAC hope that all our plans will be achieved in time.”
In his speech, Gandu, commended members for their untiring efforts, urging more creative ideas to move forward.
Mrs. Jane Onwumere, of the Technical Committee on Anti -Corruption Reforms (TUGAR), hinted of the interface she and others held with the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption, informing that the list of member organisations and submissions on the mandate analysis, baseline survey and other achievements and challenges of the committee, including financial hiccups and its next phase monitoring exercise, were made available to the Senate Committee.
Other areas that required assistance, she noted, include enlightenment and awareness about the strategy, and improvement on sector specific strategies.
The committee deliberated on the modalities for the second phase of the programme, including a review of the questionnaire and monitoring template, the MDAs to be visited as well as the proposed dates.