The Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Ene Obi has raised alarm that it is disheartening to know that currently Nigeria is being tagged the poverty capital of the world, in other words, our country is listed amongst the countries of the world with highest level of poverty which is largely due to corruption
She made this known at a High Level Seminar organised by ActionAid Nigeria in collaboration with TUGAR (Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reforms) of the Presidency, UKAid, US Embassy in Nigeria and other international development partners such as UNODC, British Council and European Union to commemorate International Anti-Corruption Day 2018 in Abuja.
According to her, corruption has undermined developments in Nigeria for many years and has metamorphosed into a hydra-headed monster terrorising the country thereby causing untold hardship and poverty in the land.
“Prevalence of corruption and corrupt practices in the country has been the root cause of poverty amongst the citizens”
“It is quite disheartening to know that currently Nigeria is being tagged the poverty capital of the world, in other words, our country is listed amongst the countries of the world with highest level of poverty which is largely due to corruption” said remarked.
In tackling corruption in elections come 2019 polls she stated that collectively Nigerians must stand up for what is right by refusing to sell their votes to any unscruplous and desperate political aspirants/candidates who are out to pay for their votes.
“We must collectively and decisively do what is right by refusing to sell our votes thereby discouraging the menace of vote buying during the elections” she stated.
Also, Commissioner for Public Complaint Commission ably represented by Barrister Ewa Udu said the intention of Public Complaint Commission as an Ombudsman and one of foremost anti-corruption agencies was to deploy all the staff across 774 Local governments in Nigeria so as to ensure the electoral materials are evenly distributed.
According to him, they currently have structures across the 36 states and Local Governments Areas and our intention is to deploy our staff across the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria to ensure that electoral materials are evenly distributed and that candidates are fairly treated.
