The groups noted that the menace of corruption continue to flourish despite the extant laws to check it.
The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) and other anti-corruption organisations have called for the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) as a measure to tackle high-level of corruption in government.
The groups noted that the menace of corruption continue to flourish despite the extant laws to check it.
The anti-corruption groups disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at a One-Day Hybrid Conference on International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) organised by HEDA Resource Centre in Partnership with the Integrity Initiatives International (III).
The conference with the theme, “Instituting International Anti-Corruption Court: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for Engagement" was supported by Mac Arthur.
The forum was aimed at getting et the commitment of critical stakeholders towards sensitising local and international state and non-state actors on the need for institutionalisation of IACC.
Speaking at the event the HEDA Chairman, Suraju Olanrewaju, said the conference was an opportunity to ensure that public officers who betrayed the trust of ordinary Nigerians were brought to book even only in Nigeria but on an International level.
Suraju added that this avenue would also take care of international conspirators who would have escaped justice as a result of the local challenges bordering on criminal justice.
He said that Africa is the worst hit in term of corruption and illicit financial flow thereby losing about $80billion annually.
He said, “We will continue to engage with other stakeholders to see how it will speeds across Africa and build an alliance of African NGOs and same with federal government to strengthen the process to advocate being the fact that African is the worst hit continent in terms of corruption which has eaten into our fabrics and resources.”
The stakeholders at the event affirmed that the proposed court was a welcome development, adding that Nigeria could not afford to lag as corruption seemed to be taking the centre stage in the affairs of the country.