Bauchi State Government has said it will establish a public complaint and anti-corruption agency to investigate and prosecute misappropriation of public funds among public officers to deepen the culture of accountability and transparency, in the state.
To this end, the government has recently sponsored a bill for a law to prohibit corruption and abuse of power among public officers and send it to the State House of Assembly, for further legislative duties.
The Sectary to the state government Barrister Kashim Ibrahim made this known during his speech on the occasion of the public hearing, organized by the house committee on Public Petitions and Human Rights to seek people’s comments and contributions on the bill.
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According to him, the action was a testimony to the State Government’s reformed agenda, creating job opportunities and fighting corruption in governance and checking misconduct among officers entrusted with public resources.
Barrister Kashim said if the bill passed into law, the anti-corruption agency would be independent in its operations and functions, pointing out that the agency would complement the efforts of similar agencies in the federal establishment.
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Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Abubakar Sulaiman represented by his Deputy Danlami Kawule noted that the public hearing will enable the house to come up with a sound legal and institutional document that will help the state in the fight against corruption and other practices that undermine public governance.
He said the bill is timely as the federal government has already taken steps in combating corruption in the country, hence the need for checking corruption and abuse of power at the state and local government levels.
