GOVERNOR Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has decried the spate at which corruption is spreading in the country, saying it is killing the country and if not tackled will hinder development.

Governor Ganduje who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, stated this, yesterday, at the inauguration of the Anti-Corruption Steering Committee convened by the Public Complaints and Anti- Corruption Commission, the anti- graft agency in the state.

He said: “Believe me, we need not say that corruption in this country is killing everyone of us. The truth of the matter is that we will never develop or progress with this level of corruption in this country.”

Speaking on the function of the committee, he explained that whoever is found wanting by the commission, whether within or outside government, will be made to face the full wrath of the law. The governor noted: “This committee is one of the most important committees that we will inaugurate in the state.

“This is because this anti-graft agency has a dual role and responsibility: The first role is that of public complaints. People might have one complain or the other that needs to be sorted out either between individuals, or between groups and individuals, or between individual and government or even between neighbours and friends. This could be resolved amicably and cannot be referred to as crime.

“On the other hand is the anti-corruption which is a fight against crime. This means the double role should not be misconstrued as just the fight against crime. This committee will bring out strategies, whereby the people of Kano State will have the benefit of both complaining and getting settlement amicably and the fight against corruption and enforcement of the law where it arises. This will open the door for people to know that they can benefit from the two.”

While lauding the performance of the commission since its inception and the achievements so far, the governor said: “It is only in Kano that the anti-corruption agency is working like the ones established at the federal level. Within the government and outside, anyone who errs will pay the price as there is no sacrificial lamb.

Earlier, the chairman of the anti-graft agency, Muhyi Magaji Rimingado, had explained that the setting up of the committee was evidence of the level at which the Kano State government holds on to transparency in governance. He said: “The strategy committee was inaugurated last year and it entails the need for the steering committee that will be made up of public officers which is now going to be inaugurated.

“The committee is to bring out modalities of how to checkmate corrupt practices in much more modern way and not the enforcement way. Enforcement and prosecution only might not necessarily be the remedy for corrupt practices. The strategy is what we will implement to ensure that we make our state corrupt-free” the anti-graft tsar declared.

Vanguard News Nigeria