From: Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan

A federal lawmaker, Olasupo Adeola, on Wednesday, emphasised the need to institutionalise anti-corruption war in the country such that gains that have been made by the administration of President Mohammadu Buhari would not be in vain.

The current anti-corruption fight, he disclosed, can best be described as ‘Buhari anti-corruption war.’ He raised the alarm that if the anti-graft war is not institutionalised to outlive the current administration and the subsequent ones, the fight might die when Buhari leaves power.

Adeola, representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Iwajowa and Kajola federal constituency of Oyo State, stated this in an interview with newsmen, in Ibadan.

Nigeria, according to him, must build strong anti-corruption structure, which would be difficult to undo by subsequent administrations, adding that National Assembly has contributed to the the country‎ by ensuring proper oversight is carried out to put governmental agencies on their toes.

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He noted that it has become very difficult to perpetrate corruption in Nigeria due to policy of Biometric Verification Number (BVN) and Treasury Subgle Account (TSA), which were not the initiative of the current administration but implemented because of the political will of President Buhari to stamp out corrupt practices.

His words: “What we have achieved so far is basically centered around President Buhari, what happens if president Mohammadu Buhari leaves after a term or probably after two terms? What if the next president coming decides not to buy the idea?

“We should remember that BVN or TSA is not the idea of this president but that of President Goodluck Jonathan. But the political will to implement it, he (Jonathan) did not have it and now we have a president, who has the political will. So, what happens if the person that comes after President Buhari says BVN or TSA has made life difficult for people to do business and removes them?

“So, what we need to do is to strengthen our institution in such a way that an incoming government cannot undo some things. That you don’t even need a political will to execute it once it is part of the system. Until we are able to do that we are fighting Buhari anti-corruption.”