As corruption is the major reason the level of growth and development does not commensurate with public fund spent by successive administrations, a Civil Society Organisation in Kwara State, Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD) has urged the Kwara State Government to establish Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission (PUCACC) in the State, noting that “there is a need to fight corruption institutionally”.
Saeed Tijjani, Chairman of the ENetSuD’s Media and Publicity Committee in a statement on Tuesday said the Coordinator, Dr. Alagbonsi Abdullateef, made this call while reacting to the PUCACC Executive Bill 2021 recently passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly, which was signed into law by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday.
Saeed statement quoted Alagbonsi as saying, “Even though the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) are playing their roles (within their capacity) to fight corruption nationwide, little has been achieved by them at the state and local government (LG) levels. To kill corruption, which is seemingly high at these levels, there is a need to establish an independent state organ that will specialize in the fight against corruption at the state and LG. We strongly believe that thorough scrutiny of public fund and government budget execution at the state and LG levels will block diversion of public fund, improve quality service delivery, enhance value-for-money in project execution and make adequate fund available that will enable KWSG and LGs to meet the needs of the citizenry.”
The statement noted that only 3 states in Nigeria, including Kano, Oyo, and now Lagos, have established PUCACC, urging Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Speaker Salihu Yakubu Danladi to partner on how to establish the PUCACC in Kwara State as soon as possible.
ENetSuD furthered that the promise and desire of the present administration to fight the systemic corruption in Kwara State will manifest only when concrete steps are taken by the government.