By Chukwuma Umeorah
Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has called on the Federal Government to take decisive action to tackle corruption in Nigeria by empowering citizens with information through the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), 2011 to engender transparency and accountability in governance.
The call was made through a statement issued in Lagos, on Friday, to commemorate this year’s International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD). According to the MRA’s programme officer, Maimuna Momoh, corruption is the major factor impeding Nigeria’s democracy, subverting electoral processes, perverting the course of justice and the rule of law while also exacerbating poverty and economic underdevelopment. She noted further that corruption not only sabotages the war against terrorism and violent extremism but actually aggravates the conflict by providing funding for it to destabilize democratic institutions.
According to her, “If effectively implemented, the Freedom of Information has the potential to curb the widespread corruption in the country as it would instill transparency into governance, enabling citizens to hold public officials and civil servants accountable for their fiscal decisions and actions as well as the performance of other aspects of their duties and functions.”