I believe looters should be named and shamed, says Amaechi

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, says he believes in an open government where the identities of looters are revealed.

Speaking in Abuja during a stakeholders meeting on the London summit on anti-corruption and the Open Government Partnership (OGP), Amaechi said such system would prevent corrupt persons from contesting elections in future.

He challenged Nigerians to hold government accountable by asking relevant questions and demanding satisfactory answers.

“I believe in name and shame and an open government. What name and shame does is to prevent such people for vying for public office,” he said.

However, Amaechi said it is disservice to any public official when people to make unsubstantiated allegations of corruption against them.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of state for budget and national planning, described Nigeria’s confirmation by the OGP as a participating country as a milestone.

Ahmed said Nigeria’s admittance into the OGP was instructive, particularly as the current administration is committed to transparency and accountability in governance.

She said her ministry was working towards ensuring an open budgeting and planning process in the country.

“We are committed to ensuring that the budget process from the preparation to the implementation and the monitoring and evaluation is open, participatory and inclusive,” she said.

In his remarks, Simon Shercliff, deputy high commissioner, British High commission, noted that corruption is the cancer at the heart of so many of the world’s problems.

“No country is immune from corruption and so governments need to work together to tackle it successfully,” Shercliff said.

He said the problem of corruption needed to be faced with all sincerity and not mere lip service.

The meeting is aimed at bringing together public and private sector, and civil society organisations.

This is to enable them to work with the ministry of justice in ensuring that the commitments to end corruption are turned into actionable plans.