Communiqué Issued At The Social Influencers Cluster Meeting On Anti Corruption And Accountability Project

PREAMBLE

On January 15, 2018, the Social Influencers Cluster on Deepening Anti-Corruption and Spreading Accountability led by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) and supported by MacArthur Foundation held it First quarter meeting. The participants were sub grantees working on anti-corruption and accountability project. Over 20 Social Influencers took turns at the meeting to speak on their experience on the project on anti-corruption and accountability. The meeting which held at Newton Park, Abuja allowed members of the cluster to review their work and reflect on the uptake of accountability and anti-corruption issues in the current campaigns by political parties for the 2019 General Election.

OBSERVATIONS

  1. Participants noted with dismay that corruption has remained a major development challenge  in the country in spites of the efforts by all
  2. That current campaigns by the major political parities are enmeshed in corrupt practices such as buying delegates, buying of PVCs, arbitrary replacement of candidates, etc
  3. That parties are yet to come up with clear frameworks and strategies for deepening anti-corruption and spreading accountability  in the post-election period
  4. That intrigues, competition and political calculations have rendered the government anti-corruption agenda ineffective,
  5. That citizens are still largely onlookers for a fight that should be their

COMMITMENTS

The members of the Cluster reiterated their commitment to deploy creative and innovative strategies to campaign for the mainstreaming of anti-corruption and accountability issues in the electioneering campaign and in enabling citizens to hold elected governments accountable. In particular, the cluster members shall continue to work in their various spheres to:

  • Sensitize and mobilize citizens to take anti-corruption struggle as theirs and therefore demand to play active role in it
  • Create more opportunities for multiplying the grassroots voices against corruption and placing them before the table of candidates and their political parties especially
  • Create avenues for candidates and parties to explain their strategies to the electorates on how they intend to tackle corruption and improve on accountability if elected
  • To engage with all anti-corruption agencies and authorities in the country with a view to getting them to be more proactive, more effective, efficient and more rooted in in rule of law in the investigation and prosecution of proven cases of corruption
  • To continue to monitor and provide evidence-based documentation about the impact of corruption on the lives of citizens as means for advocacy and engagement with other stakeholders

RECOMMENDATIONS

Participants agreed to the following recommendations”

  1. That there is need for transparency in the prosecution of the Federal Government anti-corruption agenda
  2. That all state governments that do not have state level anti-corruption agencies should do
  3. That as part of the oversight function of the National Assembly, should have a robust and clear anti-corruption mechanism that will investigate and report corruption practices in the ministries, departments and agencies they oversight to relevant anti-corruption agencies
  4. That there is need for inter-agency cooperation and coordination in the fight against corruption at all levels
  5. That political parties should come out with clear anti-corruption strategies for the country
  6. That political parties and candidates should make their themselves available to citizens’ forums to explain their manifestoes, especially aspects dealing with anti-corruption and promoting accountability
  7. That civil society groups are urged to document campaign promises of candidates and parties with a view to using these as benchmarks for holding elected persons accountable in the post elections period
  8. That parties and candidates are urged to focus on issues in their campaign than personality
  9. That electorates are urged to carefully  scrutinize the manifestoes of the various parties and the candidates and make informed judgment on election days

CITAD: Dr. Tunde Misbahu Akanni (CITAD)

Danlami Nmodu (Social Influencer)

Ayo Obe (Social Influencer)

Richard Akinnola (Social Influencer)