Professor Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) has commended the activities of the body since it was set-up in 2015. Sagay stated this during a media parley which had in attendance the Executive Secretary of PACAC, Professor Isah Radaa and members of the press. According to the PACAC Chairman, the battle to stamp out corruption is an ongoing one that requires the support of all and sundry. While commending the Buhari administration for having the political will to tackle corruption, he said “PACAC has achieved far beyond the expectations of both itself, the federal government and donors”. Sagay quoted President Buhari, saying “It is not easy fighting corruption under a democratic dispensation”, while alluding to Buhari’s military administration in which corruption was drastically reduced.
As a coordinator and a think tank, PACAC in Sagay’s telling, has achieved a lot by working with the anti-graft agencies as well as international partners in the fight against corruption. Reeling out the achievements Sagay noted that about N1 trillion in looted funds have been recovered by the anti-corruption agencies just as they “have been recycled into the budget to uplift the oppressed and most vulnerable victims of corruption”.
He listed other achievements of PACAC to include conducting over 60 capacity building activities for the judiciary, prosecutors and the anti-corruption agencies. The development of a guidance note on non-conviction based asset recovery which enables the EFCC and the ICPC to recover looted funds before conviction, according to him, was a game changer in the fight against corruption.
By Osaze Omoragbon