Nuhu Ribadu, the presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has quietly relocated to Afghanistan to assume duties as a member of the Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee in that country.
Nuhu Ribadu, the presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria and former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has quietly relocated to Afghanistan to assume duties as a member of the Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee in that country.
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Ribadu was appointed to the position by the United Nation's Department for International Development (DFID) in Afghanistan, in December 2010.
The former EFCC boss started work in Kabul last week. His schedule will take him between the cities of Kabul and Kandahar on a regular basis.
Text of Team Ribadu's Press statement:
The Presidential candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, today begins a three-week country governance audit of Afghanistan as part of a six-man international monitoring team set up by the United Nations under the “Afghanistan Anti-Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Committee.”
Mr. Ribadu left Nigeria for Afghanistan last Tuesday, May 3; joined five other team members in Dubai; and traveled into Kabul at the weekend where they are expected to fine-tune the strategy of curbing corruption in the troubled country.
The committee’s duties, according to briefing papers from the Department of Foreign International Development, DFID, and the United Nations Development Programme office, include a review of the social, political, economic and cultural conditions giving life to corruption in the country, which they tag “drivers of corruption,” and a sustainable proposal on how to curb the crime and moral ill that has ravaged the image and international standing of the conflict ridden country.
Aside from offering best “approach and principles” of fighting corruption, on a legal basis”, the monitoring team, according to its mandate, is also expected to propose ways of ensuring that international aid and development financing to Afghanistan meets with the country’s “national priorities.”
Afghanistan (ranked 176th) is the third most corrupt country, with a CPI (corruption perception index) of 1.4 according to Transparency International, with only Somalia (178) and Myanmar (176) ranked worst. Nigeria is ranked 134 with a CPI of 2.4 among the 178 countries ranked
Members of the committee who were appointed late last year commenced work on April 21 with a teleconference on the task at hand and how to achieve their mission.
The monitoring and evaluation is expected to help the Afghanistan government in its fight against corruption and also guide the international community on how best to relate with the country.
Though the committee is expected to complete its work in two years, media aide to Mallam Ribadu, Ibrahim Modibbo, said that the task will not affect Mr. Ribadu’s national priorities and his continued commitment to the growth and development of Nigeria.
“It is Mr. Ribadu contribution to the global fight against corruption that has gotten him this recognition. This will however not deter him from playing his roles as a responsible citizen and political leader in our country.”
“You know, his party, the ACN, controls six states and Mr. Ribadu will do all he can to ensure that the governors of those six states bring the dividends of democracy to their people in order to let Nigerians know that the ACN is the best party to rule the country” he added.
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