Executive arm more corrupt than the legislature- ICPC chairman

Ebun Francis|

The chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), Bolaji Owasanoye has said that the executive arm of government in Nigeria is more corrupt than the legislative and judicial arms.

Rasheedat Okoduwa, ICPC spokesperson, in a statement on Monday said the ICPC boss made the comment while delivering a lecture titled; “The legislature and fight against graft and corruption”, at the induction for new legislators in Abuja.

According to Okuduwa, the ICPC chairman described corruption as the enemy of development and good governance.

While reminding the lawmakers that they are the highest paid in the world, he said the national assembly budget had increased, over the years, for the same number of legislators without defensible legal or moral justification.

Owosnoye was quoted to have said, “Corruption in the executive is far more than the legislature and judiciary combined. This is because the executive spends a far bigger chunk of the money appropriated.

“This gives room for allegations of abuse and misappropriation of the funds. It is believed that we have the highest paid legislators representing the poorest people in the world.

“Since 1999, national assembly budget has increased without defensible legal or moral justification. Without increase in membership and addition of only one or two agencies, national assembly budget grew from N6.9 billion in 1999 to N139 billion in 2018.

“The problem is that it is just a single line item; the public is hardly told the breakdown and how it is used. The criticisms will disappear if we are told how it is spent.

“The Legislature must wake up to its role of oversight over Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to curb the menace, he concluded.”