Strategy
By Isaac Aregbesola
Abuja Dec. 19, 2025 (NAN) The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Aliyu, SAN, has issued a critical call for a fundamental recalibration of Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight, shifting the focus downward to state and local government levels where governance most directly impacts citizens.
ICPC Spokesperson, Okor Odey, conveyed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja, detailing the chairman’s address at the 11th Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in Doha.
Dr. Aliyu’s argument centers on a stark reality: a top-heavy anti-corruption strategy is inherently flawed. While federal agencies like the ICPC make headlines, systemic leakages often occur where institutional safeguards are weakest—at the grassroots. “We must confront corruption where public resources and service delivery intersect most directly with citizens,” he stated, highlighting that this is precisely where oversight is most vulnerable.
The scale of the challenge is immense. Nigeria has 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), and the ICPC chairman candidly admitted the commission lacks the manpower for a physical presence in all of them. This logistical reality forces a strategic pivot from purely reactive enforcement to **preventive governance**. The goal is to close the loopholes before funds are siphoned, rather than chasing them after they disappear.
Aliyu detailed the specific vulnerabilities at sub-national levels that enable corruption:
* **Opaque Budgeting & Inflated Contracts:** Local budgets are often technical documents inaccessible to the public, allowing for inflated project costs and kickbacks.
* **Payroll Fraud:** The perennial issue of “ghost workers” drains significant resources from already strained local treasuries.
* **Weak Audit Processes:** Internal audit functions at the local level are frequently under-resourced, under-staffed, or subject to political pressure, rendering them ineffective.
To combat these, Aliyu emphasized a multi-pronged approach centered on **preventive strategies and citizen empowerment**. He referenced the “eight pillars of assessment” developed by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity as a practical toolkit. These pillars typically cover areas like budget transparency, public procurement, asset disclosure, and citizen engagement, providing a measurable framework for local governments to strengthen their systems.
The cornerstone of this new approach is the **Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme in Local Government Areas (ACPP-LG)**, launched in April 2025. This initiative moves beyond traditional law enforcement. It is “designed to proactively tackle corruption… by empowering communities, deepening transparency, and strengthening feedback mechanisms.” In practice, this could mean training community monitors to track project implementation, simplifying budget documents for public scrutiny, and establishing reliable channels for reporting malfeasance without fear of reprisal.
The chairman’s call to action was directed squarely at state governments, which hold constitutional oversight over LGAs. He urged them to:
1. **Institutionalize Transparency Frameworks:** Enact and enforce local government transparency laws.
2. **Strengthen Public Financial Management:** Implement modern, digital accounting and treasury systems to reduce manual handling of cash.
3. **Align Procurement with Global Standards:** Adopt e-procurement platforms to minimize discretionary contract awards.
Ultimately, Dr. Aliyu framed the issue in terms of national survival and development. Revenue leakages and compromised projects at the local level directly undermine poverty reduction, infrastructure development, and public trust. For anti-corruption efforts to be sustainable, compliance cannot be seen as a federal mandate but must be “embedded within the administrative culture of states and local governments.” This requires unprecedented collaboration between federal agencies, state authorities, local councils, civil society, and the citizens themselves—a whole-of-society approach to securing the foundations of governance where it matters most.
(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
IAA/AMM
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Edited by Abiemwense Moru
Media Credits
Image Credit: icpc.gov.ng
