Reducing the corruption perception index of Nigeria will reinvigorate the nation’s economy

By Ejiro Umukoro

The need for the country to plough back dormant resources in the form of recovered public funds to boost the economy and create employment is a policy framework Nigeria needs.

In the wake of the downturn of the economy with the Naira falling flat on its face at almost N1,000 to a dollar at Bureau de Change across the country, it has become imperative for country, MDAs, agencies and other financial government appratus to account for leakages and gaps in the financial system across the country.

Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu underscored while declaring open the inaugural session of the adhoc committee on “Identification and Recovery of Public Funds Seized, Forfeited and Abandoned in Financial Institutions and Government Agencies to Improve the Current Economic Challenges in Nigeria” chaired by Hon. Munachim Alozie on behalf of the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas.

He said: “Our mission is unequivocal: to craft a comprehensive strategy that
identifies, recovers, and channels idle funds into productive endeavors. These dormant resources possess the potential to reinvigorate our struggling economy, creating avenues for growth, development, and prosperity that resonate with every Nigerian.

“Our economic landscape is multi-dimensional, replete with challenges ranging from dwindling revenues and infrastructure gaps to unemployment and inflation. As we embark on our mandate, let us bear in mind that our decisions will echo across the lives of fellow citizens, especially those most affected by these adversities. Our unwavering dedication to transparency, accountability, and diligence is non-negotiable as we navigate through intricate financial systems, legal intricacies, and bureaucratic entanglements.”

The overcome the formidable task ahead will require collective expertise and innovative solutions including holding to account the need to drop Nigeria’s perceived corruption index, the ease of doing business, proper returns of unspent funds by MDAs, recovering of stolen and looted funds while driving a tech driven industralised country in the age of AI.

Kalu further expressed the need for “collaboration among financial institutions, government bodies, legal entities, and the private sector as necessary compass towards realizing these objectives”, stressing that the committee had the task of optimizing the real-time value of recovered public funds to reinvigorate our economy.

“Additionally, this Ad-Hoc Committee’s role is not only paramount but transformative in three aspects: first, ensuring accountability and
transparency; second, establishing trust between the government and its people; and third, optimizing the real-time value of recovered public funds to reinvigorate our economy, thereby preventing “dead capital”, he said.