The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed has disclosed that the fight against corruption gained momentum in 2019 with the launch of the financial transparency portal and high profile convictions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The minister said Between January and October 2019 alone, EFCC secured 890 convictions and recorbered billions of looted funds which according to him is the highest anywhere in the world.
Mohammed who said this at a press briefing in Lagos on Monday on president Muhammadu Buhari’s achievement in the year 2019, said, “This is the highest anywhere in the world. Recall that in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the EFCC was only able to secure 103, 189, 190 and 202 convictions respectively.
“The high rate of convictions in 2019 is in addition to the billions of naira in looted funds that have been recovered by the EFCC”
The minister added that in an effort to block leakages and promote transparency in the management of resources, the President approved additional cost-saving measures, particularly in the area of official travels.
“Under the new policy, all MDAs are required to submit their Yearly Travel Plans for statutory meetings and engagements to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and/or the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation for express clearance within the first quarter of the fiscal year, before implementation.
On the Nature and Frequency of travels, he said the President approved that all public-funded travels (local and foreign), must be strictly for official purposes backed with documentary evidence.
“For Class of Air Travels, the President has approved that Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants to the President, Chairmen of Extra-Ministerial Departments and Chief Executive Officers of Parastatals who are entitled, to continue to fly Business Class, while other categories of Public Officers are to travel on Economy Class.
“Also, travel days will no longer attract payment of Estacode Allowances as duration of official trips shall be limited to only the number of days of the event as contained in the supporting documents to qualify for public funding”, the minister said.
Mohammed further said 2019 was indeed a challenging year in terms of insecurity, but said the federal government faced the challenge squarely. He added that the fight against insecurity was boosted by the border drill, which curtailed access to weapons by terrorists and other criminals.
He added that as a the drill, rice production received a massive boost, creating millions of jobs and moving Nigeria closer to achieving self-sufficiency in rice production.
Godsgift Onyedinefu Abuja
