afrol News - 'Domesticate graft convention'

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Nigeria
Politics | Economy - Development | Society
'Domesticate graft convention'

afrol News, 17 March - Nigerian parliament has been urged to publicly support and facilitate early domestication of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The anti-graft convention was signed in December 2003 in Merida, Mexico.

Nigeria has ratified the convention in December 2004, but its domestication had been hindered by Section 12 of the country's constitution, which mandates the parliament to enact all international treaties before they can become law.

But according to Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project [SERAP], domestication of the convention "would help strengthen the country's anti-graft legal and institutional frameworks" as well as "send a message to corrupt officials that there will be no place to hide their illicit assets."

"Many continue to question the adequacy and effectiveness of the current anti-corruption laws, and have

argued that these laws cannot address the persistent problem of corruption in a comprehensive and coherent manner," SERAP said in a statement.

It is believed that Nigeria's anti-corruption laws are either "outdated" or do not provide "sufficient recovery of stolen public funds."

Adetokunbo Mumini, the Executive Director of SERAP said Nigeria's Attorney General had acknowledged had acknowledged deficiencies in the fight against corruption when he told the UN Convention Against

Corruption conference in Indonesia that "we still have a lot to do and we shall continue to improve our laws in order to meet changing circumstances."

Believing that the enforcement of the convention marked an important breakthrough in the global fight against corruption, the group held the view that its domestification "would help address" Nigeria's anti-corruption problems, including improving laws against graft.

"The Convention makes the prohibition of corruption an integral part of the international public order, which Nigeria must fully endorse and internalise."

It ensures establishment of independent and effective anti-corruption bodies, ethics, prevent laundering of proceeds of corruption and increase transparency in public institutions. It also advocates international cooperation and mutual legal assistance, impose obligations on countries to cooperate with one another in every aspect of the fight against corruption, including investigation and prosecution of offenders.