BY Kunle Daramola
Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, says the federal government has taken measures to ensure that contracts within the threshold of the federal executive council (FEC) are properly vetted.
Speaking at a sensitisation workshop hosted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday, Fagbemi said the Tinubu administration has taken steps to put well-functioning institutions in place to combat illicit financial flows (IFFs).
“The government has taken measures aimed at ensuring that all contracts within the federal executive council’s threshold are properly vetted,” he said.
“As we have discovered that a major source of drain on our national purse is the increasing utilisation of litigation and arbitration.
“This is sometimes funded by litigation sharks, to foist contracts and agreements that were ab initio procured through bribery and corruption in Nigeria.
“Experience has however shown that the law and order approach alone is not sustainable. Effectiveness and efficiency require a nuanced combination or well-tailored mixture of governance reforms, prevention and sanctions.
“It is estimated that Nigeria loses an average of $1-18 billion annually to illicit financial flows, more than 60 per cent of which is due to commercial IFFs which would be largely prevented with capable negotiation, drafting transparency and patriotic zeal.”
Fagbemi added that at the ministerial level, he has developed policy documents and specific mechanisms to ensure transparency and reduce the incidence of bad judgement awards.
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