- By Femi Alabi
The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has urged the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON, offcials to evolve functional strategies and initiatives to tackle corruption and improve governance at the local government level.
He made this disclosure on Tuesday, at a two-day national workshop and Official Flag-off of Anti-Corruption Preventive Tools entitled: War Against Corruption at Grassroots holding at the EFCC Academy.
Olukoyede represented by the Secretary to the Commission, Mohammed Hammajoda, charged participants to leverage on their collective wisdom, experiences and insights to forge strategies and initiatives to strengthen the fight against corruption through transparency and accountability in local government administration
“As we delve into the discussions over the next few days, let us leverage on the collective wisdom, experiences, and insights of our distinguished guests and participants.
“Together, we can forge strategies and initiatives that will not only strengthen the fight against corruption but also enhance transparency and accountability in our local governance structures”.
He called for radical improvement of governance at the grassroots, maintaining that only determined efforts against corruption would offer Nigerians a new lease of life.
Earlier, Chairman Board of Trustees, ALGON, Odunayo Ategbero stated that prevention of corruption is better than cure, pointing out that a bottom-top approach in tackling corruption would offer meaningful development to Nigerians.
“Therefore, the third tier of government, which is the local government, is where corruption can be effectively prevented, because prevention is better than cure.
“The fight against corruption and other societal ills bedeviling our country is the collective responsibility of everyone in our society. Therefore, a forum like this is needed to create awareness for all and sundry to tackle corruption headlong”.
Minister for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Zaphaniah Bitrus Jisalo, commending the initiatives of the EFCC and ALGON concerning the workshop, called for robust discussions, exchange of ideas and proper implementation of resolutions at the end of the workshop.