August 29, (THEWILL) – The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has challenged lawyers at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to fight corruption in the legal system.
The ICPC in a statement on Monday, said its Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN) gave the charge at the NBA conference recently held in Lagos.
Owasanoye charged the NBA and its members to play a pivotal role in the fight against corruption in the legal system.
The ICPC boss who decried corrupt practices by members of the legal profession, advised the leadership of the NBA to act swiftly and sanction its members involved in corrupt practices.
According to Owasanoye, the middlemen role played by some lawyers for suspects involved in corruption, money laundering and illicit financial flows (IFFs) cases is unethical.
He said: “In one of the investigations by the Commission, we traced the money to the account of a lawyer. When we got to the account, the money had further been transferred to many accounts in an effort to frustrate the investigation. These lawyers are agents of money launderers, and they undermine the legal profession.
“Also, some lawyers are engaged in the payment of bribes to file cases in courts or to collect receipts. Lawyers must dare to speak and challenge the status quo and reinvigorate the fight against corruption and money laundering.”
He also expressed deep concern over orders granted by courts to lawyers preventing anti-corruption agencies from investigation and making arrests.
In his words: “The courts are now in the habit of issuing orders stopping anti-corruption agencies from investigation and making arrests. The biggest culprits are the senior lawyers and it is a matter of regret that the NBA is not doing anything about it.
“The NBA has shown some promise, but this promise needs to be taken forward and the Association needs to act swiftly to save the legal profession and prevent its denigration.”
The ICPC Boss while evaluating the nexus between corruption, insecurity and bad governance, explained that the provision of critical infrastructure, security, education, health, and food are the immediate casualties of corruption.
He said: “A single transaction of diversion of huge sums could have immediate impact that may become irreversible or more difficult and costly to reverse, while petty diversion of budget or misallocation of resources may not immediately make impact but will inevitably impact medium to long term.
“A lot of phantom projects are included and also duplicated in the budget every year. The ICPC has annually been unpacking the budget once it is passed by the National Assembly. The Commission has been able to stop the duplication of projects in the budget running into billions of naira.”
According to Owasanoye, two units – Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking and System Study and Review were created by the ICPC as part of measures to unearth the root causes of corruption in the public sector and address them head-on.
He further stated that the Commission was collaborating with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to deploy modern technology in fighting corruption and illicit financial flows.
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