IMF Urges Nigeria to Address Institutional Corruption

•Warns of looming food crisis due to flooding in some states

Nume Ekeghe in Washington DC

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Nigeria to further empower the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation (OAuGF) in order to curb institutional corruption in government parastatal and agencies.

The fund also called on Nigeria to provide farmers with necessary infrastructure and technology suitable for detecting and averting challenges that result from climate change.

Speaking exclusively to THISDAY, on the sidelines of the ‘Analytical Corner: Fragile States and Corruption Towards an Enhanced International Financial Institutions Engagement,’ Legal Department Officer, IMF, Sebastiaan Pompe, who spoke at the ongoing annual IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington DC, however, praised the present administration and its stance towards ridding Nigeria of corruption.

He said: “The IMF has programs with Nigeria and you will often find that as of 2018, some of the elements of those programs included governance measures or measures that for example relate to the judiciary or to the anti-corruption framework, or transparency measures in the fiscal domain.

“Transparency is a form of combating corruption. I have visited Nigeria, myself, and Nigeria, obviously is a country that has had major challenges.

“At the same time, Nigeria is remarkable in the resilience of some of its institutions. Nigeria has phenomenal civil society institutions.

“I also found on my first visit to Nigeria that institutions such as for example, the Auditor General of Nigeria, while it has challenges, it also has an important contribution to budget transparency and accountability. “To give one example, while by law required, the Auditor General of Nigeria actually audits all public agencies, which many other countries do not do.

“So, further enhancing the Auditor General would be a major, step forward towards more accountable public finances and strengthening the anti-corruption regime for sure.”

 He added: “Nigeria is a strong state. Nigeria institutions have depths, they have experience, the question is how do you mobilise, develop it and strengthen it further.”

In his paper earlier, he highlighted the fragile states globally, saying Nigeria does not technically qualify as a fragile state. He, however, stressed that corruption was an institutional challenge that could make Nigeria slide into a fragile state.

He said: “Nigeria is not a fragile state. But there is a broader idea of fragility which is not so narrowly technical, but which is the condition of countries. And that is why Nigeria sometimes was qualified as a fragile state technically, but then it emerged out of fragility, but it continues to face institutional challenges or challenges on corruption for example, that make it still sit within that broader group of fragility.”

Speaking in a separate event titled, ‘Climate Change and Food Insecurity in Sub-saharan Africa,’ an analyst at the African Department IMF, Mai Farid stated that Africa was the most food-insecure region not prepared for the outcomes of climate change. 

She said: “Africa is a region most vulnerable to climate change yet the least prepared. Over the past decade, food insecurity in Africa has been rising faster than in the rest of the world.

“Over the past decade, you can see a persistent deterioration in sub-Saharan Africa’s food Security Index. This is partly due to pressures from rapid population growth, recurring and intensifying natural disasters and lack of resilience.”

On policies and assistance needed for farmers, she noted that technology should be provided to help monitor and forecast upcoming changes that would affect yields as well as enhance on the necessary infrastructure needed by farmers.

She added: “So we do recognise that these are incredibly difficult contexts to address. However, as we mentioned, our work actually does point towards establishing a telecommunications system that gives farmers the ability to be aware of an upcoming change forecast that would kind of predict a flood or, or a drought, all those things will help them prepare and be some kind of an ex ante preparedness approach.

“Rebuilding infrastructure is something that countries need to take into account since climate change is not going anywhere and as we mentioned is inevitable. And therefore making sure that infrastructure is climate resilient, that you are able to actually withstand that next shock and flood barriers.”