WE shall strongly battle another form of evil that is even worse than terrorism – the evil of corruption. Corruption attacks and seeks to destroy our national institutions and character… corruption will not be tolerated by this administration; and it shall no longer be allowed to stand as if it is a respected monument in this nation —Muhammadu Buhari’s Acceptance Speech, March 31, 2015

THIS short essay is focused on the significance of having a president who has pledged to be the country’s anti-corruption champion. I also make some comments on the anti-corruption strategy that president-elect Buhari has pledged to present to the public during his first 100 days.

President as anti-corruption champion: As the examples of countries that have succeeded in significantly reducing corruption in developing countries across the continents demonstrate (for example, Botswana in Africa and Singapore in Asia), having a president with unquestioned integrity as the anti-corruption champion is a necessary condition. Yes, it is not a sufficient condition, but without it almost all anti-corruption efforts tend to have only limited impact on reducing corruption, at best; and at worst, anti-corruption efforts end up as mere sloganeering or tools for harassing and punishing political opponents, or a combination of these negative outcomes.

Having a president who is the head of government as the anti-corruption champion is important because, as the saying goes, the fish rots from the head. Effective from May 29, 2015, all Nigerians, non-nationals who live in Nigeria, and all those within and outside Nigeria who do business with the country, will have to begin to adjust to the reality that Nigeria has a president who will strictly enforce the commitment he has made to his countrymen and women: “corruption will not be tolerated by this administration”.

Strikingly, Buhari’s commitment is no more than announcing his determination to uphold Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution: “The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power”. If his predecessors had taken their oath to uphold the Constitution seriously with particular reference to the provision on anti-corruption, Buhari’s commitment would not appear as a radical new development.

A related anti-corruption provision in the Constitution that Buhari should enforce is the “Prohibition of foreign accounts” (Fifth Schedule, Code of Conduct for Public Officers): “The President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor, Ministers of the Government of the Federation and Commissioners of the Governments of States, members of the National Assembly and of the Houses of Assembly of the States, and such other public officers or persons as the National Assembly may by law prescribe shall not maintain or operate a bank account in any country outside Nigeria”. To ensure effective enforcement, any of the officers who has an existing account should be required to freeze it for the period of his/her service with public declaration of the amount in the account at the time of assumption of office.

However, Buhari’s determination to require his vice-president, ministers and other political appointees to publicly declare their assets is unprecedented and is not a requirement in any extant law in the land. When President Yar’Adua publicly declared his assets and those of his wife, he failed to require his vice-president, ministers and other political appointees to do the same. And we saw that Mr. “Clean” President failed to make a dent on fighting corruption. Buhari’s commitment to public declaration of assets will promote transparency which is an enemy of corruption that thrives in opacity and secrecy. And I would recommend that the list of public officials to publicly declare their assets be extended to include the top executives in the civil services (permanent secretaries and directors) and chief executives of government agencies and parastatals. The implications of this radical approach for the toothless Code of Conduct Bureau and the grossly under-utilized Code of Conduct Tribunal will need to be addressed in the Anti-corruption Strategy.

Even when allowance is made for possible aspirational public declaration of assets by some of the concerned public officials, strict enforcement of public declaration of assets would still be a crucial step in the fight against corruption. Specifically, investigative reporters in the media would be free to expose aspirational declarations that should lead to sanctions against the public officials concerned. Buhari’s pledge to work with the National Assembly for a rapid enactment of a Whistle Blower Protection Act is a critical accompaniment to the public declaration of assets: public servants, professionals such as accountants and lawyers, media practitioners, anti-C activists in civil society,will feel protected to expose corrupt practices.

Public declaration of assets

Besides public declaration of assets, the impact of the president as the country’s anti-corruption champion can be felt within his first corruption agencies (notably ICPC and EFCC) and a small coordinating secretariat in the presidency. The secretariat should be responsible for producing quarterly or bi-annual and annual reports on the results achieved in the fight against corruption, using benchmarks articulated in the strategy. And for obvious reasons, the financial resources and human capacities for assuring effective implementation should be addressed in the plan.

Last word: President-elect Buhari correctly regards corruption as an evil that is “worse than terrorism”. As in the case of terrorism, there will be no quick fix. But reducing corruption drastically within a four-year timeframe is not impossible. Hong Kong first demonstrated that this could be done. Singapore in Asia and Botswana in Africa are two countries that have drastically reduced corruption within a short timeframe. Sadly, Nigerians’ entrenched tolerance of corrupt practices by townsmen/women and “sisters”/”brothers” from their respective ethnic groups poses a big challenge. Tackling the challenge would require fairness, firmness and transparency in the punishment of corrupt officials.

Prof.  Ladipo Adamolekun lives in Iju, Akure North, Ondo State