US report says Nigeria's fight against corruption is hampered by abuses and a lack of transparency

WASHINGTON has just published damning assessment of Nigeria in its 2017 Country Report on Human Rights detailing a catalogue of terrible abuses in the fight against corruption and a lack of transparency in general.

Released just ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari's visit to the US on April 30, the 48-page report was posted on the website of the US State Department. According to the US government, impunity remained widespread at all levels of government across Nigeria, pointing out that the Buhari-led administration lacked transparency.

Corruption, the report said, was not limited to government officials but was very rampant among the security agencies. It noted that although the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's (EFCC) efforts remained largely focused on low and mid-level government officials, following the 2015 presidential election both organisations started investigations into and brought indictments against various active and former high-level government officials

“Although the law provides criminal penalties for conviction of official corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively and officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Massive, widespread and pervasive corruption affected all levels of government and the security services,” the report added.

Also, the report observed that the EFCC often did not observe all due process safeguards and refused to obey court orders granting bail to the former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki. Also, many of cases were pending in court and according to both ICPC and EFCC, the delays were the result of a lack of judges and the widespread practice of filing for and granting multiple adjournments.

“EFCC’s arrests and indictments of politicians continued throughout the year, implicating a significant number of opposition political figures and leading to allegations of partisan motivations on the part of the EFCC. In a case brought by the EFCC, in November a federal court convicted four firms allegedly used by a former aide of former president Goodluck Jonathan of laundering N1.67bn ($$55.3m) in stolen funds.

“In its pursuit of corruption, the EFCC often did not observe all pertinent due process safeguards. In November, the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice declared unlawful the arrest and detention in 2015 of former national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki," the report added.