Anti-corruption war not yielding results, Senate declares

…Flays huge expenditure by FG on crusade

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

The Senate has said the anti- corruption crusade of government has not yielded expected results because of misplaced priority in the fight against corruption.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Mathew Urhogide said this on Wednesday during the budget defence by the office of the auditor general of the federation.

Rather than prioritizing the prevention of corruption, especially in public institutions and establishments, the federal government was accused of spending more money on fighting corruption.

The Senate Public Accounts Committee also slammed the government for relegating the auditor general’s office to the background and for under-funding the office in past fiscal years.

Senator Urhogide said “it is unfortunate that government spends more money in fighting corruption than preventing it,” adding that he was surprised that while both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) have huge appropriation each year, a paltry sum has always been allocated to the office of the auditor general.

He said the responsibility of ensuring probity, accountability and transparency in public offices falls within the purview of the auditor general’s office, “but it was unfortunate that the office lacks the financial requisite to carry out this function.”

Rather than spending huge money on prosecuting corrupt public officers, he said government needs to strengthen the office and fund it adequately.

He said while the office of the auditor general was fund- starved and handicapped, there are some agencies of government whose accounts have not been audited in the last 10-15 years, adding that government still allocate funds to them annually.

“It is highly unfortunate if this is how we fight corruption,” he said.

Senator Urhogide pledged the support of the committee in soliciting adequate funding for the office.