Anti-corruption
ANEEJ MANTRA ANCHORS WITH LOGICAL FRAMEWORKS

ANEEJ MANTRA ANCHORS WITH LOGICAL FRAMEWORKS

BACKGROUND

Corruption remains a perennial challenge to development in Nigeria.  Despite its wealth of massive crude oil deposits and other resources, the country continues to experience widespread poverty and underdevelopment.  According to the UN and the AU, around $148 billion is stolen from Africa annually by political leaders, multinational corporations, the business elite and civil servants with complicity of banking and property industries in Europe, North America and elsewhere who facilitate the laundering of such funds through complex financial transactions and mechanisms. Estimates indicate that Nigeria lost about $40 billion as illicit financial flows between 2001 and 2010 alone.[1]   Transparency International (TI), recently ranked Nigeria 148th out of 180 countries ranked in its 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI). The country, according to the CPI, scored 28 out of 100, a figure lower than the average in the Sub-Saharan region.

Hence, despite concerted efforts to address corruption at the national level through prosecution and related measures, the prospect of such anti-corruption efforts being translated into tangible benefits for citizens depends largely on the ability of the country to track, trace, repatriate and utilize looted assets for developmental purposes.  The Federal Government of Nigeria, working with the international community, has demonstrated obvious commitment and determination to doing this through the measures provided by the provisions of UNCAC, the commitments made at the London Anti-corruption Summit in 2016, the Global Forum on Asset Recovery in 2017 and other mechanisms.

Progress has been made in this regard.  The Switzerland Government has, per an MoU signed by the Nigeria Government with Swiss Banks and the World Bank, recently returned $321 million to Nigeria as part of the over $4 billion stolen by late dictator, General Sani Abacha,  which the Federal Government has committed to use in financing social welfare programmes.  The United Kingdom has also agreed to return the $73 million from the Malabu oil deal whilst the United States is also in the process of returning $900,000 stashed in that country by the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepriye Alamieyeseigha.

Despite these encouraging developments, the recovery and management of recovered assets for the benefit of the poor citizens of Nigeria who are the ultimate victims of corruption is beset by many problems, including:

  • The lack of a clear policy framework for the management of looted assets recovered
  • The re-looting of recovered assets by corrupt public officials
  • Low public awareness and advocacy on the recovery and use of looted assets.

The MANTRA project is designed to address these problems within the broader objectives of the Anti-Corruption in Nigeria (ACORN) programme of the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to strengthen the anti-corruption regime in Nigeria.

GOAL

The project is created to achieve the goal of strengthening the capacity of CSOs and citizens to monitor the use of repatriated loot, embark on advocacy to improve the policy, legislative and institutional framework for the recovery and management of looted assets in Nigeria and mobilise collective action in demanding a cleaner society.

In accordance with this, the MANTRA project sought to and has established distinct  policy frameworks underpinning its resolve to mitigate corruption in Nigeria.

Here they are:

Role of Citizens in the implementation of CCT – ANEEJ

ANEEJ – Assessment of Behavioral Change v4

Call to Action

ANEEJ welcomes feedback/comments/queries on these policy documents. Use the form below to reach us

 

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