His political party had not wanted him to accept the role
DAKAR (TrustLaw) - Nigeria’s former anti-graft tsar, Nuhu Ribadu, has accepted an appointment as head of the country’s taskforce to improve accountability in the oil industry despite his political party’s reservations.
The pioneer head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) - who ran unsuccessfully for president under the banner of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) last year - issued a statement late on Wednesday in which he cited his desire to keep on serving his country.
“The history of my life is a history of public service,” Ribadu said from Afghanistan, where he is working as a member of a U.N. team evaluating the country’s progress on governance.
“Regardless of our affiliations, our differences, and our engagements, it is at least safe to say that we have a national consensus on the deadly impact of corruption on our march to greatness, and on the capacity of our people, particularly the youth, to earn a decent, promising, life,” he added.
The ACN party says it does not want its members to accept government appointments.
“Any member of our party who takes such an appointment does so in his personal capacity,” the party said in a separate statement.
However, Ribadu - who won international praise for his dedication to combat corruption while he was at the EFCC - argued that corruption was a scourge that needed to be defeated, requiring an effort from all Nigerians.
“We must see it as a war within our borders, a war that has assumed a systemic and endemic character, but to which all must now urgently enlist with our different capacities, or accept to all go down with the ship.”
Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil exporter but revenue has been managed in an opaque manner that has fuelled massive corruption, with billions of dollars-worth of the country's oil riches siphoned off, experts say.
The job of the 17-member task force is to verify all petroleum revenues, including taxes and royalties that are due and payable to the Nigerian government.
The body is expected to develop improved systems for effective tracking, monitoring and online validation of the income and debt of all operators, state-run corporations and petroleum-ministry agencies.
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