Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owosanoye, has submitted that “endemic” corruption and illicit financial flows by Politically Exposed Persons (PEP), and the inability of member States of the sub-regional block, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to meet the requirements of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, has continued to devastate Africa, most times arousing military coups.
Speaking in Abuja at the 5th General Assembly of the National Anti-Corruption Agencies in West Africa themed: “The Role of Regional Economic Communities in the Implementation of the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption,” Professor Owosanoye, said: “we are all aware that corruption is a significant contributory factor to Africa’s underdevelopment. One can surmise that the inability of our institutions to fully implement our individual mandates and by implication the regional treaty obligations is a contributing factor to the resurgence of unconstitutional take over of government within the West African sub-region.”
This was even as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bawa Abdulrasheed, linked security challenges in the sub-region to corruption.
“As you may be aware, the ECOWAS sub-region is threatened by existential security challenges which may not be unrelated directly or indirectly to corruption.
“We must, therefore, intensify efforts to stem the spate of illicit financial flows in the region including illicit flows by Politically Exposed Persons (PEP).”
