Corruption Threatens African Agenda 2063, Says EFCC Chairman

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, said yesterday that the African Vision (Agenda 2063) would be a mirage if corruption was not decisively dealt with on the African continent.

Bawa was speaking at the virtual meeting of the 5th African Union Day of Anti-Corruption themed: “Regional Economic

Communities: Critical Actors in the Implementation of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption”.

According to him, corruption presented a major threat against the actualisation of the “Africa of good governance, democracy, and respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law which is the vision of African Agenda 2063”.

A statement by EFCC said the anti-graft agency boss, who was represented by the Director of Intelligence, Mr. Abubakar Saád, said corruption was a threat to the dream of a united and prosperous Africa.

“It has drastically increased the prevalence of poverty and inequality on our continent. Our continent continues to suffer from rampant debilitating capital flight and illicit financial flows, accompanied by a consistent decline in the standard of living and quality of life of our people”, he explained.

He, however, remarked that the adoption of the African

Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC), signed in Maputo, Mozambique, on 11th July, 2003 and its coming into force in 2006, had brought about remarkable progress in the fight against corruption.

“It has also provided a fulcrum for regional economic communities to synergise anti-corruption efforts undertaken by National Anti-Corruption Authorities (NACAs) and measure the impact of prescribed interventions”.