Buhari unveils fresh measures to tackle corruption

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in London said Nigeria will soon begin the full implementation of the principles of the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) to boost his administration’s ongoing war against corruption.

He made the remark while presenting Nigeria’s statement to the Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain.

According to him, the Federal Government will apply the OCDS to major projects in the oil, transportation, power, health, education and other sectors.

The OCDS enables disclosure of data and documents at all stages of the contracting process by defining a common data model.

The publication of OCDS data ensures greater transparency in public contracting, and can support accessible and in-depth analysis of the efficiency, effectiveness, fairness, and integrity of public contracting systems.

Buhari, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said his administration is also taking steps to ensure greater transparency of the ownership and control of all companies involved in property purchase and public contracting.

He said: “Nigeria is already collating this information through the Extractive Industry Initiative process and will extend it to other sectors.

“Nigeria will establish a transparent central register of foreign companies bidding on public contracts and buying property. We welcome the proposal by developed countries to work together to improve the access of developing countries to beneficial ownership information for use in public contracting.”

Buhari also welcomed a proposal to restrict the ability of those involved in corruption to travel, invest and do business overseas.

The President added: “We commit to joining the pilot initiative for automatic exchange of beneficial information. Nigeria commits to deploying public-private information sharing partnerships to bring together governments, law enforcement agents, regulators and the financial sector to detect, prevent and disrupt money laundering linked to corruption.

“We commit to work together to enhance company disclosure on the payments to governments for the sale of oil, gas and minerals, complementing ongoing work within the EITI.