The Lawmaker representing Etinan/Nsit Ibom/Nsit Ubium Federal constituency, in Akwa Ibom State in the House of Representatives, Mr Onofiok Luke has advised Nigerian citizens to always call public officers to account through proper monitoring and questioning of government policies and programmes.

The Lawmaker representing Etinan/Nsit Ibom/Nsit Ubium Federal constituency, in Akwa Ibom State in the House of Representatives, Mr Onofiok Luke has advised Nigerian citizens to always call public officers to account through proper monitoring and questioning of government policies and programmes.

Our problem in this part of the world is that we don’t have the staying power to demand accountability for so long. That was why we could not have an endpoint to #ENDSARS protest. We would have left the street to where we would have intellectual discourse to drive home our demands.

“Call public officers to account. As citizens, we must identify our strength and how to channel it and get results. We must understand that all forms of deprivation on our rights and privileges is a contest on our citizenship rights”.

The former Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly who applauded the various ongoing empowerment and social investment schemes of the Federal government, however, expressed reservations on the management of such funds.

In his brief remarks earlier, the convener Mr Thomas Etuk said the initiative was designed to give citizens and communities a voice on matters regarding their development.

According to Etuk some of the objectives of the organisation to includes; connecting with people, fostering strong relationships between leaders and followers, designing a new thought pattern for leadership, influencing political action and decisions in favour of the masses.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a new head of the country’s anti-corruption agency, after his predecessor was dismissed over allegations of fraud including misuse of seized assets.

The presidency named Abdulrasheed Bawa as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Buhari’s spokesman Femi Adesina said in a statement on Tuesday.

Bawa, 40, is experienced in investigating and prosecuting fraud cases, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundering, and other economic crimes, the statement said.

Buhari first took office in 2015 and won a second term at the helm of Africa’s largest economy and top oil producer in 2019, promising to crack down on corruption and clean up Nigerian politics.

Last year, the 78-year-old president suspended the former head of the anti-corruption body, Ibrahim Magu, over allegations of ethics breaches, including the sale of seized assets.

Magu, an ex-police official, was appointed in 2016 as a key figure in Buhari’s anti-corruption campaigns.

The EFCC was set up in 2003 after pressure from an international watchdog that named Nigeria as one of the countries failing to cooperate in the global fight against money laundering.

But critics have in the past accused Nigeria’s ruling elites of using the country’s anti-corruption agency as a political tool to target enemies.

Nigeria will have a staggering $1.5billion loan to help the country fight recession caused by coronavirus pandemic. This comes after the World Bank approved the request for the loan by the federal government. 

According to the Bretton Woods institution, the loan facility is a five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF) that will last from 201 until 2024.“This country partnership framework will guide our engagement for the next five years in supporting the government of Nigeria’s strategic priorities by taking a phased and adaptive approach,” said Shubham Chaudhuri who is the World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria“To realize its long-term potential, the country has to make tangible progress on key challenges and pursue some bold reforms.

Our engagement will focus on supporting Nigeria’s efforts to reduce poverty and promote sustained private sector-led growth.” $1.5 billion was also tied to two projects in Nigeria, namely:

Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus – Program for Results (Nigeria CARES) and the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Program for Results (SFTAS). 

Nigerian Government revenues have dipped by 60 percent due to a crash in global oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic leading to the country’s economic recession.