President Bola Tinubu has pledged not to interfere in the operations of anti-graft agencies, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability in the fight against corruption. Speaking at the 6th Annual General Assembly of the Network of Anti-corruption Institutions in West Africa, Tinubu described corruption as a significant obstacle to progress and prosperity in the country.
Tinubu highlighted the importance of funding anti-graft agencies and allowing them to operate independently. He called on ECOWAS countries to harmonize their legal frameworks, strengthen the independence and capacity of anti-corruption institutions, and enhance cross-border cooperation in investigations and asset recovery.
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, noted that African countries lose an estimated $8.6 billion annually to illicit financial flows, which weakens economies, deprives governments of essential revenue, and causes poverty. He emphasized the need for international cooperation to combat corruption and illicit financial flows, calling for transparency in local financial systems and an end to safe havens for illicit funds.
Tuggar also stressed the importance of considering countries’ peculiarities while formulating universal laws and challenged the framing of some criteria for measuring corruption and money laundering. He advised developing nations to be concerned about the activities of cryptocurrency raiders, citing Nigeria’s experience with Binance and its impact on the naira’s exchange rates.
