Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, (CACOL), has called for judicial actions to be taken against those found culpable of not remitting funds to the consolidated revenue fund account.
A federal government audit on Thursday, revealed that a whopping 450 billion Naira had not been remitted to the federal account by several agencies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
In a press statement released by the spokesman for CACOL, Wale salami, on Friday, the agency has insisted that the case should not be treated with levity.
The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr Debo Adeniran, asserted that “it is not enough to announce to the public that 450bn Naira was not remitted to the federal government from 2010 to 2015, we expect actions to be taken against those who failed to stick to operational guidelines and convictions against those found to be culpable.
“It is a manifestation of the state of decadence in the public institutions and agencies, while also calling for the law to run its full-course.”
He described the case as a “heart-rending reality that corruption has set its roots in every institution in the country”.
“It is even more worrisome that the virus called ‘corruption’, has been allowed to fester for too long and now seems to overwhelm the country as a whole.”
Adeniran therefore called on the President to show commitment to the people especially in the fight against corruption.
“This development goes further to show how deeply seated the canker-worm has eaten into the fabric of every facet of our body polity.
“It is so deep seated that no arm of government or institution is extricable from the corrupt practices.
“The revelation of the 450bn Naira buttresses CACOL’s position that civil service is soaked in institutionalized corruption.
“It is public knowledge that corruption is almost institutionalized in the civil service to the extent that civil servants are euphemistically described as ‘evil servants’, emanating from the experience of most Nigerians or foreigners, that have had one thing or the other to do with the civil servants and the civil service,” he said.
Furthermore, the CACOL chairman believes that Nigerians have quietly endured the situation for too long while also hinting that the 33 agencies involved in the case were just ‘a tip of the iceberg’.
According to him, “If investigations, probes, prosecution are continued with the necessary vigour, many more ‘cans of worms’ will be opened”.
He then suggested that “the scope of the auditing should be widened in spread.
“The federal government must immediately involve the EFCC, ICPC and other relevant agencies and sustain the ongoing effort with a view of fishing out the culprits to face justice,” Adeniran stated.
Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, had on Wednesday said that a recovery committee chaired by the Accountant General of Federation, Ahmed Idris, has since been constituted to recover the outstanding 450 billion Naira.
Part of the committee’s job is to hold discussions with the affected agencies a plan which according to her has started yielding positive results.