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Tag: CISLAC

  • Buhari’s life valuable lesson for future leaders – CISLAC

    Buhari’s life valuable lesson for future leaders – CISLAC

    Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has mourned the passing of former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing his life as a valuable lesson for future leaders in the country.

    The Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, who made the remark in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, said that the late former president’s legacy was one marked by discipline in public engagement.

    Rafsanjani, who is also the Head of Transparency International Nigeria, said that Buhari would particularly be remembered for his early leadership as a military head of state during which he launched War Against Indiscipline (WAI).

    He said that the WAI initiative fostered a sense of civic responsibility, discipline and patriotism among citizens.

    “During that time, people began to observe greater order, coming to work on time, queuing properly at public places and displaying the national flag in offices. National symbols were respected and a stronger sense of civic duty was instilled,” he recalled.

    Rafsanjani also noted that Buhari’s military administration attracted criticisms over human rights concerns, saying that this remained a point of reflection, even as he (Buhari) returned to power in a democratic capacity years later.

    “Buhari was elected as a civilian president in 2015 after multiple attempts, enjoying broad support both domestically and internationally.

    “This raised high hopes that his presidency would address pressing issues such as insecurity, corruption and unemployment,” he said.

    While acknowledging the former president’s sincere intentions and international credibility, Rafsanjani pointed to internal political challenges which, he said, might have constrained his administration’s effectiveness.

    “He came into office with noble goals and enjoyed public trust in the beginning. However, governance is complex, and political dynamics—particularly the influence of certain figures within his administration—posed significant challenges.

    “This offers an important lesson: Leadership must go beyond vision and must include effective execution, transparency and accountability,”

    Rafsanjani also acknowledged Buhari’s wide popularity and how his leadership helped shape national discourse around anti-corruption, security and civic discipline.

    He said that civil society organisations, including CISLAC, engaged actively with his administration on governance, institutional reform and accountability.

    The executive director urged current and future Nigerian leaders to place national interest above everything else and strive for legacies that would command respect both within and outside the country.

    While expressing deep sympathy over the death of the former president, he prayed Allah to grant him eternal rest.

  • June 12: How to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s democracy – CISLAC

    June 12: How to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s democracy – CISLAC

    A civil society organisation (NGO), Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has called for electoral and political party reforms to restore public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic processes.

    Executive Director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, stated this in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, in commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day.

    Rafsanjani also stressed the need for political leaders to change their orientations to safeguard the country’s democratic rule.

    He decried what he called unaccountable leadership, weak institutions and exclusion of citizens from decision-making in the country.

    According to him, elections have become mere exercises for many citizens, marked by violence, voter suppression, vote buying and judicial interference in electoral outcomes.

    “There is widespread voter apathy and growing distrust in the electoral system. Political parties lack ideology and discipline, functioning merely as platforms for elite bargains and transactional personal gains,” he said.

    While acknowledging the anti-corruption efforts at the federal level, he, however, expressed concern about what he called pervasive and largely unchecked corruption at the state level.

    “Many state governors operate without transparency, supported by compromised state assemblies and an almost total lack of oversight.

    “We must decentralise anti-corruption efforts and empower state-level institutions to function independently,” he said.

    Rafsanjani noted that judiciary was also under pressure, as delays in access to justice, conflicting court judgments and perceived political interference continued to undermine the rule of law.

    “A functional democracy depends on an impartial and independent judiciary. But what we see today in Nigeria is a system under pressure from political actors, lacking financial autonomy and rapidly losing public confidence,” he stated.

    He called for a comprehensive judicial reform to ensure timely, impartial justice and uphold the supremacy of the rule of law.

    He urged the Federal Government to adopt a people-centred security approach that would prioritise civilian protection and address long-standing causes of conflicts.

    “Democracy is more than elections. It must demonstrate good governance, strong institutions, protection of rights and active civic participation,” the executive director said.

  • Humanitarian Ministry: CISLAC outrightly rejects Enitan as temporary replacement for Edu

    Humanitarian Ministry: CISLAC outrightly rejects Enitan as temporary replacement for Edu

     

    …declares his appointment will compromise probe

    The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International in Nigeria received with utter disappointment, the appointment of the Permanent Secretary the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan to run the ministry.

    This was contained in a statement issued and signed by Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
    Executive Director of CISLAC/ Head of Transparency International in Nigeria stating that:

    “It is not acceptable that Mr Enitan, the accounting officer of the ministry involved in such scandal should be allowed to supervise the ministry.

    “This action will compromise the investigation a nd is an insult to the intelligence of the public, at best.

    “The impression to right thinking people is that the government is planning a river of the heist and abuse of public trust.

    “By our extant regulations and laws, the Permanent Secretary is the accounting officer who should have been suspended along with the Minister.

    “Ministers work on recommendations of civil servants led by the Permanent Secretary.

    ” There is no evidence that the Permanent did not participate in the matters being investigated. In any case, the Permanent Secretary did not object to what happened and should be a subject of investigations.

    “We are seriously perturbed that top officers who are connected with approvals and sanctions of financial and procurement process within the Ministry like the Permanent Secretary are yet to be suspended or subjected to thorough investigation till their innocent is proven; instead they are promoted to sensitive positions, where the ongoing investigation could easily be hampered or sabotaged.

    “Appointment of Enitan to head the Ministry will certainly undermine the credibility and respect accorded the current administration.

    “We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to as a matter of urgency rescind his decision to appoint the Permanent Secretary and other persons who should as well be under serious investigation to occuppy such a sensitive position, pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and scrutiny of the Ministry by anti-corruption agencies.

    “We also call on the President to consider persons with integrity, track record and free of corruption background in future appointments to demonstrate the readiness for good governance in Nigeria.

    “We further call on Civil Society, media and other well-meaning Nigerians to remain vigilant and reject unjustified or secluded appointments, to ensure inclusive reform that will enhance transparency and accountability in governance.

    Signed:

    Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
    Executive Director of CISLAC/
    Head of Transparency International in Nigeria

  • How corrupt leaders, foreign accomplices perpetuate illicit financial flow – EFCC

    How corrupt leaders, foreign accomplices perpetuate illicit financial flow – EFCC

    The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) on Wednesday said Illicit Financial Flow (IFF) in Nigeria was perpetuated by past corrupt leaders and their foreign accomplices and multinational companies.

    Executive Director CISLAC, Mr Auwal Rafsanjani and EFCC Chairman, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa said this at a conference on Illicit Financial Flow (Corruption in Arbitration) on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Bawa, represented by Mr Abiodun Adebanjo, Head, Research Unit, Department of Policy Research and Statistics, EFCC, said that IFF remained Nigeria’s most pervasive and daunting challenge.

    “The situation we have seen in Nigeria is that corrupt government officials and their private sector collaborators use fronts and ownership structures that do not provide sufficient information about the true identities of the natural persons behind the title to hide illicit money and transfer same to safe heaven foreign jurisdictions.

    “The real problem is not just about anonymity but the lack of transparency on the part of the countries where these monies are being held to the countries where these monies being are stolen from.

    “In Nigeria, we see a case in which influential officials use their positions to pilfer government resources and extract maximum rent from the country’s mineral resources with minimum or no benefit to the citizens.

    “In practical terms, billions of dollars are lost annually in royalties and fees for licenses which politically connected individuals appropriate to themselves, using fronts and secret ownership arrangements.

    “This deprives Federal Government huge amounts of monies needed for development,’’ he said.

    Bawa said that investigations by the EFCC and other international law enforcement agencies revealed that the massive flow of illicit money out of Nigeria was facilitated by Global Shadow Financial System (GSFS).

    This, he said comprised of tax havens, secrecy jurisdiction, disguised corporations, anonymous trust accounts, fake foundations, trade mispricing, multinational asset stripping and money laundering techniques.

    Executive Director, CISLAC, Mr Rafsanjani said that the situation of Nigeria regarding IFF and Money Laundering (ML) was extremely challenging.

    “Putting things into perspective, Nigeria loses about 15billion dollars to 18billion dollars annually to Illicit financial outflows.

    “This is largely generated by tax evasion but fueled also by grand corruption, organised crime activities and many other licit and illicit practices.

    “Although Nigeria might be an extreme case, this model is replicated throughout Africa.

    “Recent high UN panel calculated that for every 1 dollar gained through foreign direct investment and oversees development aid, Africa loses 2 dollars because of illicit financial outflows,’’ he added.

    Rafsanjani said that corruption and gaps in the investor-state arbitration proved to be another area where Nigeria lose precious resources while most Nigerians live in abject poverty.

    The executive director said that a single case in point was the Process & Industrial Developments Limited contract which may cause Nigeria gigantic loss of funds.

    He said that the arbitration case concerned a 2010 contract relating to the construction and operation of a gas processing facility between Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID).

    Rafsanjani said the P&ID was a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, and the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

    The executive director said that in less than three years after the contract was signed, P&ID initiated arbitration, alleging that Nigeria had not performed its obligations under the contract and sought for damages for lost profits.

    He said that the tribunal concluded that Nigeria had repudiated the contract and awarded P&ID 6.6 billion dollars in damages plus seven per cent interest per annum.

    “Even though neither party had taken significant steps to perform their obligations under the contract.

    “Nigeria did not immediately pay the award. This damage in favor of the P&ID, a sum which if includes the seven per cent interest per annum will be at about 10billion dollars, a figure equal to 28 per cent of the country’s current 2021 annual budget,’’ he said.

    Rafsanjani said if Nigeria had had a clearer and more robust laws and processes around public procurement, such a deal would have never happened.

    The executive director said that public procurement laws and procedures needed to be upgraded, made unconditionally public and be rigorously enforced.

    He advised that Nigeria should also avoid signing up for Public Private Partnerships that were not in the public interest.

    Rafsanjani said that unless all government contracts, especially those concerning the oil sector, were made public, Nigeria would continue to lose billions of dollars monthly due to corruption, incompetency, and international scams.

    He called for a beneficial ownership register as well as the adherence to open contracting principles and also called on the federal government to inaugurate the procurement council as stipulated in the Procurement Act 2007.

    Prof. Sadiq Radda, Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) said that as far as government was concerned, there was no going back in the fight against corruption.

    Radda said that the current administration made commitment to Nigerians that corruption would be fought, in order words it would not be business as usual because Nigeria would not make progress until corruption was fought.

  • Anti-graft war: FG protests as Nigerian CSO rates Buhari’s administration poor

    Anti-graft war: FG protests as Nigerian CSO rates Buhari’s administration poor

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has rejected the assessment of Bubari administration by Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).

    Reacting to the current rating by CISLAC, Mohammed described it as unfair and unacceptable.

    CISLAC, a non-governmental organisation, had on March 23 in Abuja addressed a press briefing where it allegedly accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of lack of transparency in the recovery of stolen assets.

    However, fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday, the minister dismissed CISLAC’s accusation, saying the assessment is not truly a reflection of the realities on ground.

    He said: “I think that I’m aware of that particular rating which was not quite flattering to Nigeria, but our position, which I’ve declared before is that that rating does not truly reflect the great strides that the administration has made in the area of fighting corruption.

    “The government has put in place various reforms in fighting corruption, but some of these reforms will take time to yield the desired results because the matrix used by TI is not just about grafts alone.

    “It includes how transparent or how opaque the services are and you’ll find out that when we scored in the 2018, 2019 transparency reports, we realised that we scored very low in the area of ease of doing business in particular.’’

    The minister stated that the Federal Government had embarked on various reforms aimed at tackling cases of corrupt practices in both private and public sectors of the economy to improve the country’s rating by the Transparency International (TI).

    “That is why the federal government embarked on reforms, especially at the seaports, because that is one area where we scored very low.

    “You will see that in recent times, we’ve embarked on numerous reforms at our seaports so that our rating will improve.

    “For instance, we realised that following the release of 2019 TI corruption perception index, we initiated reforms to improve on ease of doing business indices.

    “This is because we found that up to 40 per cent of the country’s corruption perception survey indices related to business, process and general public service delivery.

    “So, that is why we are concentrating on the ease of doing business, making sure that people can get to the ports, clear the goods in good time and by the time some of these forms start yielding fruits, I’m sure that perception will improve,’’ he added.

    Mohammed further disclosed that the federal government had put in place preventive mechanism to check corruption rather than prosecution.

    He said: “We believe that it’s more important to put in place preventive mechanism rather than prosecution and this preventive mechanism that we’ve put in place include the programme launched by the ICPC, which is what they called the National Ethics Policy.’’

    According to him, this policy addresses integrity issues in all sectors of the polity and is directly linked to the pillar of national anti-corruption strategy.

    He revealed that the Code of Conduct Bureau had also put in place some preventive measures, especially in the area of energising the code of conduct for public officers

    Mohammed disclosed that the Council for Ease of Doing Business recently launched the Nigerian Ports Process manual meant to help people doing business at the nation ports.

    “In addition, we actually also analysed the process that the TI used in the rating that was used recently and we found quite a few discrepancies in the rating process, including some data sources in which Nigeria’s course has remained flat over the past 10 years.

    “What we said is that we take this ratings seriously, so we actually went and analysed the ratings and we found that there’ve been some gaps.

    “It’s either we’ve not flooded enough data or they have not revised all data because we found it strange that the country’s rating in certain areas has remained the same for a period of 10 years.

    “We are taking the media measures so that they can get this data in respect of these sectors because we believe that it’s not possible for you not to improve, for you not to lose points for 10 years. So there’s a bit of discrepancy there,’’ he said.

  • Ogoni cleanup: CISLAC wants repair of idle oil installations in Niger Delta

    Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a civil society organisation (CSO) has called for repair or removal of non-producing oil installations in the Niger Delta region.

    The Executive Director of CISLAC, Malam Auwal Ibrahim, made the call during a courtesy visit to Mr Peter Idabor, the Director-General, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in Abuja on Friday.

    Represented by Mr Salaudeen Hashim, the Senior Programme Officer of the centre, Ibrahim said the repair or removal of idle oil facilities was key in any environmental remediation.

    The appeal comes ahead of the commencement of the much-awaited cleanup of Ogoni land in December.

    ‘‘Oil assets in the area still have the tendency of repoluting the environment when they are not serviced or decommissioned.

    ‘‘So, we believe that we need to strengthen collaboration and coordination, among agencies of government, toward the realisation of a successful remediation, restoration and rehabilitation of Ogoni land,’’ he said.

    Ibrahim also said that getting multinational oil companies to properly handle their facilities in the region was part of an advocacy partnership deal that CISLAC was seeking with NOSDRA.

    The proposed partnership is aimed primarily to support implementation of the United Nation’s Environment Prgramme (UNEP) report on the Niger Delta.

    Under the proposed collaboration, the CSO is asking NOSDRA to institutionalise regular interface between the oil corporations operating in the region and civil society organisations.

    ‘‘The objective is to strengthen collaboration and coordination among agencies of government toward the realisation of a successful remediation, restoration and rehabilitation of Ogoni.

    ‘‘Such forum would enable stakeholders to further review remediation techniques,where necessary, and appraise the performance of the emergency measures to see where gaps exist and the available alternatives.

    ‘‘It would also support regular and objective feedback on what is happening and what needs to be done toward creating a safe and healthy Ogoni in particular and the Niger Delta in general.

    ‘‘NOSDRA can do this under its mandate of striking partnership with internal and external stakeholders, including multinational oil companies, private interest, communities and civil society groups,’’ he said.

    Responding, Idabor lauded CISLAC for the idea which he said was a commendable departure from the antagonistic disposition of most CSOs to government.

    Idabor said NOSDRA was willing to partner with CISLAC, noting however, that the agency role in the Ogoni cleanup was mainly regulatory.

    He immediately directed his officials to raise a three-man team to liase with CISLAC to work out the proposed partnership deal.

    The NOSDRA boss sought the assistance of CSO in producing database of abandoned installations in the Niger Delta to guide the anticipated engagement with the companies concerned for necessary action.

     

  • 2018 budget: CSO tells NASS to avoid another budget padding scandal

    Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has called on the National Assembly to diligently scrutinise the 2018 Budget to avoid another budget padding scandal in the country.

    Legal Adviser of the organization, Mr Adesina Oke, made the call while addressing newsmen in Abuja and said that it was imperative to eliminate frivolous and wasteful allocations in the budget.

    Oke said that the poor level of implementation of the 2017 budget was lamentable.

    He said that apart from the delay in the passage of budgets, implementation level of less than 20 per cent called for serious concerns.

    “It is bad enough that capital allocations are usually inadequate and frivolous, wasteful provisions, poor disbursement and utilization only create economic uncertainties and negative impacts on the welfare of citizens.

    “As at this day, the 2018 budget is not close to being passed and the month of April is being projected for its passage.

    “For a pre-election year, this is a recipe for economic crisis and avenue for corruption and unapproved spending which could be diverted for political party or selfish uses by various MDAs.

    “We must overhaul our budget making process to make it more open, transparent and result –oriented,’’ he said.

    Oke also urged the National Assembly to follow through with the confirmation of all outstanding executive appointments by carrying out constructive and objective scrutiny of appointees without prejudice and political sentiments.

    He called on the National Assembly to ensure effective oversight of the MDAs to avoid wastages, abuse and misuse of public funds for any purposes other than serving the interest of Nigerians.

    On his part, Mr Vanccan Prusa, Manager Anti-Corruption, CISLAC, urged the government and security agencies to render the highest level of protection and unconditional political state support to anti-corruption agencies.

    Prusa said that international commitments stipulated during the anti-corruption summit in London anchored on open government partnership should be fulfilled if international community would be convinced about the seriousness of Nigeria to fight corruption.

    He said that whistle blowers should be provided legal provision and assurances from the highest political level that their lives were protected and their actions glorified while exposing corruption.

    Prusa also advised that immediate appointment and prompt inauguration of National Procurement Council as provided in the Public Procurement Act should be accelerated to curb continued systemic corruption in the nation’s procurement process.