NBA urges government to roll out anti-graft war in MDAs

As part of efforts at mitigating high level of corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Abubakar Mahmoud has advocated the establishment of a secret agency to monitor the activities of officials with the view to prosecuting them.

Mahmoud, who was a guest speaker at a strategic dialogue on improving anticorruption institutions in Nigeria organized in Lagos by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in collaboration with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) said the agency will have the responsibility of secretly monitoring officials for corrupt practices and reporting either to the presidency or the Attorney General for prosecution.

Lamenting the endemic nature of corruption in the nation, Mahmoud, who was represented by Adesina Adegbite, said the recent videoing of the military brutality against a physical challenged man in Anambra State was a pointer that when people know that somebody will be watching them, they will change their ways.

Professor of International Law and Jurisprudence in University of Lagos, Akin Oyebode lamented that corruption has remained a deleterious disease in Nigeria despite several efforts to curb it.

While describing President Muhammadu Buhari as a global brand for anti-corruption with a perfect blend with the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, he said the fight against corruption has been more on the symptoms rather than the system.