Empowering More Agencies In Anti-corruption Campaign

By Ngenegbo Emmanuel

No country thrives when corruption is prevalent in all the sectors of the economy. Corruption in Nigeria is not only a moral blight; it is a governance and development problem that depletes public resources and ruins institutions.

Over the years there’s been a reformatory effort which has produced important institutions to specially target, identify and combat corruption in Nigeria. The EFCC, ICPC and CCB have been effective in the fight against corruption by prosecuting and convicting offenders. The problem however remains that the corruption around here persists, taking up new forms and at different levels of our public life and these agencies cannot handle this alone.

For our anti-corruption structure to remain strengthened, two things must be pursued simultaneously: one, we must continue to empower and refine these core agencies where necessary to meet the current realities, and two, enable a wider set of public, private and civic institutions to play constructive roles in early detection, prevention and recovery. This will enable a multipronged approach in the fight against corruption not by multiplying ineffective bodies, but by building capability, clarifying mandates, and widening responsibility across the system.

The goal therefore must be to enable more agencies to detect and prevent corruption. Corruption around here comes in many forms like procurement fraud, bribery, payroll theft, illicit enrichment, misappropriation to mention but a few. A one-size-fits-all enforcement approach is inefficient to tackle the wide spread of this menace in our society. Corruption is not performed by one individual. There are several enablers in specialized units within the ministries and parastatals (for example, procurement, audit and accounting units inside ministries). These units when empowered and sensitized can catch wrongdoing early, reduce the need for central agencies to triage basic cases, and focus national enforcement resources on more complex, transnational and high-impact cases.

Anti-corruption work also depends on timely, accurate data: procurement records, asset declarations, banking and tax records and whistleblower tips. Nigeria’s whistle blowing policy which incentivizes members of the public to report theft and financial misconduct and is being considered for stronger legal backing illustrates the value of channeling citizen information into formal investigations. Equally important is real, automated data sharing between agencies using secure platforms so that EFCC, ICPC, CCB, and relevant ministries can quickly cross-check suspicious transactions and declarations.

We should also explore and enforce strong and preventive systems inside government. Corruption is easier to prevent than to prosecute. Clearing the system of weak internal controls for instance, by digitizing procurement and payments, enforcing e-invoicing, and using open contracting portals reduces discretionary decision points that encourage bribery. Public service reforms that unify payroll systems and require biometric verification reduce “ghost workers”; public procurement reforms that mandate competitive bidding and public publication of contract awards reduce kickbacks. These are tasks for ministries, the Bureau of Public Procurement, state governments, and oversight agencies not only the EFCC or ICPC and they must be supported with clear guidelines and monitoring protocols.

One thing that is lacking is inter-agency coordination among the anti-graft agencies. Coordination mechanisms like joint task forces for major investigations and asset recovery, and shared legal teams will definitely improve efficiency. But such coordination must be balanced by their institutional independence and transparency to reduce political interference. Recent asset recoveries and prosecutions underscore the potential impact when agencies are able to operate decisively; preserving their integrity is therefore paramount.

Lastly, enlist civil society and the private sector as co-drivers. Civil society organisations, investigative journalists and community groups play a vital watchdog role by exposing cases, advocating reform, and supporting victims. The private sector, particularly banks, auditors and professional service firms, can improve compliance by strengthening know-your-customer (KYC) standards and reporting suspicious transactions. Public–private partnerships for anti-corruption training and for the development of secure reporting platforms can scale prevention efforts beyond government reach.

Enabling more agencies in Nigeria’s fight against corruption is not an argument for creating institutions for their own sake. It is a call for smarter distribution of roles, better data and evidence sharing, targeted capacity building, and meaningful preventive reforms across the public and private spheres. When specialised units in ministries detect problems early, when whistleblowers are protected and incentivised, when asset-recovery teams have the technical tools to trace laundered funds, and when civil society keeps pressure on the system, Nigeria’s anti-corruption effort becomes a broad, resilient front rather than the task of a few agencies.

•Emmanuel writes from Centre for Social Justice (CSJ)