The President of Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation (IGET), Mr. Kingsley Moghalu has said that corruption will prevail in Nigeria without accountability in the political space.
Mr. Moghalu disclosed this in a post on X on Monday, noting that despite the established laws, they are not obeyed as there is no political will.
He wrote: “Corruption will continue to eat Nigeria for breakfast, lunch and dinner because ACCOUNTABILITY anchored in RULE OF LAW does not exist. Laws exist, but donโt โruleโ because the political will does not exist. Any society where some people are above the law is a primitive society.
“Former U. S. President Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on charges of bribery. His predecessor Ehud Olmert was convicted and imprisoned on counts of bribery and breach of trust. Former South Korean
“President Park Geun-hye was impeached by that countryโs Constitutional Court and in 2018 convicted & sentenced to 24 years in prison for corruption & abuse of power. She was pardoned in 2021 after serving a few years in jail, for purposes of โnational unityโ after #COVIDใผ19 .
“As in Nigeria, same for most African countries, with few exceptions like Rwanda where there is zero tolerance for corruption. President Paul Kagame recently sacked one of his cabinet ministers on grounds of corruption.
“How can the necessary political will in our ultimate leadership to be accountable and to enforce accountability be developed?”
The Presidential candidate of Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the 2019 election explained that in real democracies, accountability requires a combination of strong, independent institutions, emphasising that the few remaining in Nigeria have been destroyed.
“The judiciary is gone. The National Assembly, well, what to say? EFCC runs after yahoo boys and other inconsequential petty criminals. The Police Force is too busy with regime protection to investigate the mega-corrupt politicians and functionaries. @inecnigeria? Sigh!
“So itโs up to the citizens, one way or the other. They either stand up in the millions for a cleaner country, if they are not themselves too poor & illiterate to be compromised by corrupt politicians. This is a HUGE challenge. Some deep thinking & strategy needs to be go into it.”
The former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also disclosed that an important part of the solution must be massive, fundamental re-education of the Nigerian society on the importance of values and value systems.
He added: “When I ran for President in 2019 I proposed that Ethics should be a compulsory part of the curriculum in primary and secondary.”
