From Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja, 11.29.2005

Speaking yesterday in Abuja at a training workshop for procurement officers of federal ministries and parastatals, EFCC Chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, declared that the government agencies raked in a lot of surpluses but did not reflect such in their budget.

He however, assured Nigerians that the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, when passed into law, would take care of such unwholesome acts.

According to him, "Fiscal Responsibility Bill when passed will become one of the best legislation that we ever had. Many of us don't know the budget of CBN, NNPC and NPA. These agencies generate a lot of surpluses, yet we do not know their budget. All their operations are shrouded in secrecy."

Ribadu who was represented by the Executive Secretary, EFCC, Mr. Emmanuel Akomaiye, noted that "if there is lack of transparency in our fiscal regimes, then there will be corruption. If a budget is less than transparent, it impacts negatively on our fiscal regime. This is what we have experienced in the country over the years. We have to make our budget process more transparent and open."

He expressed the need for fiscal discipline at the three tiers of government namely, the federal, state and local governments lamenting that, "it is because we put bad people in government that we have corruption."
Good governance, he stated, should be instilled at all the three tiers of government.

According to him, "if there is good governance, there will be service delivery. One of the biggest problems we have today is bad governance.We have to build institutions that will imbibe good governance and transparency."

Akomaiye also said there was the need for an electoral reforms. We need to reform the process of choosing our leaders. EFCC is determined to ensure that such people with shady characters and lack of transparency will not be allowed to get into public offices. The way they are put in public offices is the way they will behave in office," he said.

The executive secretary who submitted that there could be "no improvement in public service if we remain in our old ways of doing things," called for service reforms that is based on efficiency, transparency and service delivery.
He, however, pointed out that, "anti-corruption, which is one of the critical components of the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), has not been fully addressed at the state and local government levels."