CCB: ‎Anti-corruption agencies under-funded to fight corruption head-on

Yemi Adedeji, Abuja

‎It said proper funding of the agencies is germane to achieving success in the anti-corruption war of the current administration.

Sebastian Gwimi ‎, Special Adviser to Head, Reforms of the Bureau disclosed this in an interview with Elendu Reports.

“The truth is that most of the anti-corruption agencies are not fully funded in the best way they will stand up to fight corruption.

“The funding is key to fighting corruption, you can not fight somebody who is  richer ‎than you, I mean the tendency for you to give in is there, we are humans, where money speaks even angels bow, that is the truth, so you have to have that strong determination to resist.” He said

Gwimi noted that  people don’t talk about corruption before because it was seen as a plague and a gain for people who do it under cover, stressing that the mere mention that President Muhammadu Buhari has the zeal to fight corruption has done it all, which he said state and non-state actors  can now cash in on.

He said: “Even at joints you see people talking about it, so,  because as we are talking now people are getting jittery. Those who are corruptly minded are thinking twice. It is not easy for you to just go in now and start moving money anyhow. The situation is so tough now that people are hiding their money because they know how they got that illegitimate fund, illicit enrichment .

‎”We are signing treaties, international conventions and domesticating them, it is also good. Once  you are doing that fine‎, if you are not doing that internationally you are out of business because most of these things are global treaties and if you don’t belong you are out.

“Even if government is not interested in fighting corruption, the mere fact that other people are doing it in other climes, you have to join things‎,” he stressed.

Baring his mind on the issue of inter-agency rivalry , Gwimi explained that the agencies  have platform for sharing information.

“We share intelligence in terms of prosecution, but the mere fact that ‎certain agencies are not willing to really cooperate, that is where the problem lies, this is an internal thing that you will not understand until you visit that agencies.” He said