The fight against corruption is the major boast for the
Buhari-led administration.
Nigeria's Senate president, Bukola Saraki, on Monday, May
15, revealed 11 crucial talking points of the anti-graft war.
Saraki said the war under President Muhammadu Buhari
had recorded successes and that all Nigerians must play their
part to help the government and anti-corruption agencies.
In a release by his media office on Monday evening, Saraki
answered some questions on what the legislature was doing
to curb corruption and highlighted a few things Nigerians
must know.
Excerpts:

1. On the relationship between corruption and
development:

“What got me thinking was the chicken and egg puzzle that
that statement immediately raises. Do countries become more
corrupt because the people are poor or are the people poor
because their country is corrupt? We may never be able to
answer this question to everybody’s satisfaction.”

2. On why corruption needs to be viewed through the lens
of ‘human development’:

“If the purpose of government is to improve the quality of lives
of its people, then any conversation about corruption must
focus primarily on how it affects human development, whether
it is health, wealth or education.”

3. On the progress Nigeria has made with fighting
corruption under President Buhari:

“…one area I believe we have made remarkable progress in the
past two years of the President Buhari-led administration is
that corruption has been forced back to the top of our national
political agenda.
Every single day, you read the newspapers, you listen to the
radio, you go on the internet, you watch the television, the
people are talking about it.
The people are demanding more openness, more accountability
and more convictions.
Those of us in government are also responding, joining the
conversation and accepting that the basis of our legitimacy as
government is our manifest accountability to the people.”
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or Buba Galadima to replace Babachir Lawal

4. On why governments across all levels must join the
fight against corruption:

“We acknowledge that if we want Nigerians to trust their
government again, then government at all levels must
demonstrate that we are not in office for the pursuit of private
gains, but to make our people happier by helping them to meet
their legitimate aspirations and achieve a higher quality of
life… Nigeria and Nigerians have not accepted corruption as
normal; we recognize it as a problem; that we are determined
to make a break with our past and live by different rules.”

5. On why deterrence is a better approach to fighting
corruption:

"I am convinced that we must return to that very basic medical
axiom that prevention is better than cure. Perhaps, the reason
our fight against corruption has met with rather limited
success is that we appeared to have favoured punishment over
deterrence… We must review our approaches in favour of
building systems that make it a lot more difficult to carry out
corrupt acts or to find a safe haven for corruption proceeds
within our borders. In doing this, we must continue to
strengthen accountability, significantly limit discretion in
public spending, and promote greater openness.”

6 On what the National Assembly is doing to fight
corruption:

“We in the National Assembly last week took the first major
step in this direction towards greater openness. For the first
time in our political history, the budget of the National
Assembly changed from a one-line item to a 34-page document
that shows details of how we plan to utilize the public funds
that we appropriate to ourselves.”
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again
11 crucial facts
about Buhari's
corruption war -
Saraki
Saraki says the Senate has taken the lead in the drive for
openness in governance

7. On anti-corruption legislation being considered by the
Senate:

“At the moment, we are considering for passage into law the
following bills:
The Whistleblower Protection bill, which I am confident will be
passed not later than July 2017.
The Proceeds of Crime bill
The Special Anti-Corruption Court, which would be done
through constitutional amendment and;
The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill."

8. On what the National Assembly intends to do moving
forward:

“…the National Assembly is driven by the saying that
“whoever comes to equity must come with clean hands.”
Having demonstrated our commitment to transparency and a
more open legislature, we will be operating on a higher moral
ground in carrying out our oversight duties as prescribed by
the constitution.”

9. On bureaucratic processes and corruption:

“We need to simplify our bureaucracy and administrative
procedures. Because it is in the complexity and red-tapes that
corrupt officials profit. However, I also strongly suspect, while
not justifying anything, that majority of these low level
corruption are largely powered more by need even more than
greed.”

10. On how providing more opportunities, Nigerians will
fight corruption:

“If we are able to build a quality public education system,
especially at the basic and secondary level, which would not
require parent to pay through their nose for their children’s
education; if we are able to build an efficient public health
system that provide insurance covers to ordinary citizens so
that when they fall sick, they can access quality healthcare
without running from pillar to post looking for money; if we
are able to build a system that guarantees food and shelter to
everyone; if we are able to do all these, we would have gone a
long way in removing much of the driving force for corruption
at this level.”

11. On transparency international’s corruption perception
index:

“ On the Transparency International Corruption Perception
Index. It is important to note… that the year-on-year report
does not fully reflect or account for the progress being made in
the fight against corruption. I believe the key challenge here is
also because ‘perception’ is largely subjective… while relying
on perception, I think it is important for TI and other such
organisations to improve on their methodology by developing
more robust parameters that reflect the progress that some
countries are making in respect to corruption .”

source: https://www.naij.com/1104859-11-crucial-facts-buharis-corruption-war-saraki.html

cc:lalasticlala

---

The fight against corruption is the major boast for the
Buhari-led administration.

Nigeria's Senate president, Bukola Saraki, on Monday, May
15, revealed 11 crucial talking points of the anti-graft war.

Saraki said the war under President Muhammadu Buhari
had recorded successes and that all Nigerians must play their
part to help the government and anti-corruption agencies.
In a release by his media office on Monday evening, Saraki
answered some questions on what the legislature was doing
to curb corruption and highlighted a few things Nigerians
must know.

Excerpts:

1. On the relationship between corruption and
development:

“What got me thinking was the chicken and egg puzzle that
that statement immediately raises. Do countries become more
corrupt because the people are poor or are the people poor
because their country is corrupt? We may never be able to
answer this question to everybody’s satisfaction.”

2. On why corruption needs to be viewed through the lens
of ‘human development’:

“If the purpose of government is to improve the quality of lives
of its people, then any conversation about corruption must
focus primarily on how it affects human development, whether
it is health, wealth or education.”

3. On the progress Nigeria has made with fighting
corruption under President Buhari:

“…one area I believe we have made remarkable progress in the
past two years of the President Buhari-led administration is
that corruption has been forced back to the top of our national
political agenda.
Every single day, you read the newspapers, you listen to the
radio, you go on the internet, you watch the television, the
people are talking about it.
The people are demanding more openness, more accountability
and more convictions.
Those of us in government are also responding, joining the
conversation and accepting that the basis of our legitimacy as
government is our manifest accountability to the people.”

4. On why governments across all levels must join the
fight against corruption:

“We acknowledge that if we want Nigerians to trust their
government again, then government at all levels must
demonstrate that we are not in office for the pursuit of private
gains, but to make our people happier by helping them to meet
their legitimate aspirations and achieve a higher quality of
life… Nigeria and Nigerians have not accepted corruption as
normal; we recognize it as a problem; that we are determined
to make a break with our past and live by different rules.”

5. On why deterrence is a better approach to fighting
corruption:

"I am convinced that we must return to that very basic medical
axiom that prevention is better than cure. Perhaps, the reason
our fight against corruption has met with rather limited
success is that we appeared to have favoured punishment over
deterrence… We must review our approaches in favour of
building systems that make it a lot more difficult to carry out
corrupt acts or to find a safe haven for corruption proceeds
within our borders. In doing this, we must continue to
strengthen accountability, significantly limit discretion in
public spending, and promote greater openness.”

6 On what the National Assembly is doing to fight
corruption:

“We in the National Assembly last week took the first major
step in this direction towards greater openness. For the first
time in our political history, the budget of the National
Assembly changed from a one-line item to a 34-page document
that shows details of how we plan to utilize the public funds
that we appropriate to ourselves.”

7. On anti-corruption legislation being considered by the
Senate:

“At the moment, we are considering for passage into law the
following bills:
The Whistleblower Protection bill, which I am confident will be
passed not later than July 2017.
The Proceeds of Crime bill
The Special Anti-Corruption Court, which would be done
through constitutional amendment and;
The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Bill."

8. On what the National Assembly intends to do moving
forward:

“…the National Assembly is driven by the saying that
“whoever comes to equity must come with clean hands.”
Having demonstrated our commitment to transparency and a
more open legislature, we will be operating on a higher moral
ground in carrying out our oversight duties as prescribed by
the constitution.”

9. On bureaucratic processes and corruption:

“We need to simplify our bureaucracy and administrative
procedures. Because it is in the complexity and red-tapes that
corrupt officials profit. However, I also strongly suspect, while
not justifying anything, that majority of these low level
corruption are largely powered more by need even more than
greed.”

10. On how providing more opportunities, Nigerians will
fight corruption:

“If we are able to build a quality public education system,
especially at the basic and secondary level, which would not
require parent to pay through their nose for their children’s
education; if we are able to build an efficient public health
system that provide insurance covers to ordinary citizens so
that when they fall sick, they can access quality healthcare
without running from pillar to post looking for money; if we
are able to build a system that guarantees food and shelter to
everyone; if we are able to do all these, we would have gone a
long way in removing much of the driving force for corruption
at this level.”

11. On transparency international’s corruption perception
index:

“ On the Transparency International Corruption Perception
Index. It is important to note… that the year-on-year report
does not fully reflect or account for the progress being made in
the fight against corruption. I believe the key challenge here is
also because ‘perception’ is largely subjective… while relying
on perception, I think it is important for TI and other such
organisations to improve on their methodology by developing
more robust parameters that reflect the progress that some
countries are making in respect to corruption .”

source: https://www.naij.com/1104859-11-crucial-facts-buharis-corruption-war-saraki.html

cc:lalasticlala, mynd44

How on earth am I gonna read this copy and paste?

CHIEF EXECUTIVE ARMED ROBBER Saraki too is talking