We Lack The Capacity To Prevent Corruption In Nigeria – Okonjo-Iweala

Abuja – The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-
Iweala, said on Tuesday that corruption persisted
in the country because Nigeria lacked the
institutions, systems and processes to prevent it.
Okonjo-Iweala made this known when she spoke
on the Topic: `Preventing Leakages in the Nigerian
Economy` at the Catholic Caritas Foundation Forum
in Abuja.
According to her, the absence of the relevant
systems and institutions that will help check
corruption has created opportunities for people to
engage in the act.
“This thing has been with us and we must crack it.
This is not something that started in this country
today; but it is something that we must crack.
“Fundamentally, we have to ask ourselves, why has
this continued to be a problem; I am convinced
that it is because we constantly look at the
symptoms and not the cause of the disease.
“The cause of the disease is we don’t have in place
the institutions, the systems and the processes to
block and prevent it in the first place.
“That’s the only difference between us and the
people abroad.`
The minister assured that people would be
compelled to do the right thing always if the
appropriate systems were in place to block and
prevent corruption.
She urged youths in the country to ask the
relevant questions that would help tackle
corruption in the country.
She said: “This is so important now because of
technology and I am a total fan of the use of
technology and electronic platforms to block the
leakages in this country.
“We must use them the way they are being used in
other countries.“
Okonjo-Iweala said that the introduction of the
Government Integrated Financial Management
System (GIFMS) had helped to reduce physical
movement of cash to make payments and curb
corruption.
She said that the Integrated Personnel Payment
System had also helped government to remove
ghost workers from the system and save money in
the process.
She said, “We have been able to weed out about
62,893 ghost workers till date saving N208.7
billion and we have not finished in the system.
That is addressing the root cause.“
The minister said that the names of the persons
found to be involved in the act had been sent to
the ICPC for further action.
OKonjo-Iweala said that through the electronic
wallet system introduced by the Ministry of
Agriculture, government had been able to reduce
corruption in fertilizer distribution in the country.
According to her, 10.5 million farmers have been
registered under the system with more than 6
million being able to access the product
personally.
This, she said, had contributed to increased food
production.
The minister said that with the creation of the
Pension Transmission Administration Department
as demanded by law, issues with old pension were
being handled systematically
She said that 14 people were presently under trial
for various pension scams in the country.
Commenting on the outcome of the forensic Audit
on the alleged 20 billion dollars missing oil money,
she said the ministry had written to the NNPC
asking it to remit the amount as directed by the
auditors. (NAN)