SAN FRANCISCO, February 01, (THEWILL) – Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has explained that he decided to set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, ICPC, because of the pervasive corruption in the country, adding that he identified corruption as the single bane of the country’s development.
The former President, who stated this on Monday during the inaugural conference organized by the Ibadan School of Government and Policy, ISGPP, observed that corruption seems to be retaliating with a vengeance as the battle against the vice is now starting afresh under President Muhammadu Buhari.
His words: “I identified corruption as the greatest single bane of our society which was why I set up the ICPC and the EFCC to tackle it head long. Corruption drains billions of Dollars from our economy. Corruption has returned to Nigeria and we are just beginning to fight it afresh.”
Obasanjo, who warned that “corruption must not have resting place in our society because it destroys almost everything,” averred that the high rate of unemployment calls for serious reflection in view of the rising cases of insecurity, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast.
He went on to berate state governors for turning local governments to their personal estates, stressing that the corruption in the local governments has prevented the society from developing. This, he stated, is why “models that works elsewhere fail in Nigeria”.
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