President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a committee to advise him on the best way to tackle corruption and reform the legal system.
the appointment of the seven-man committee was announced by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Monday.
Buhari took office on May 29 after being elected on promises to fight endemic corruption.
He has Made fighting corruption the fulcrum of his administration’s programmes.
The president believes officials in previous governments over the decade have stolen around $150 billion from the public teeasury.
The Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption comprises mostly of academics.
“The committee’s brief is to advise the present administration on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system,” Adesina said.
He was unable to provide details of when the committee would report back to the president with its findings and recommendations. Corruption and mismanagement of public funds have been entrenched in Nigeria’s political system for decades.
Itse Sagay, professor of law civil rights activist.
Other members of the Committee include prominent experts in the field. They are Femi Odekunle, Benedicta Daudu, E. Alemika, Sadiq Radda, Hadiza Bala Usman, Bolaji Owasanoye.
Among the group’s responsibilities is also development of comprehensive interventions for achieving its recommended reforms.
An established $5 million Anti-Corruption and Criminal Justice Reform Fund is to assist the Committee in its work. The Fund will be managed by the international development organization Trust Africa having programmes in more than 25 countries across the continent.
President Buhari, who during his election campaign vowed to eliminate public funds embezzlement in Nigeria, is currently taking active measures to fulfill his promise. On the one hand, the acting government says it is working on returning the stolen funds. On the other hand, preventive steps are being taken to ensure corruption-free system in the future.
Some, however, insist that the president has launched a selective anti-graft war meant to witch-hunt the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
