Obasanjo: Corruption Makes Poor Nigerians Poorer, Hinders Development

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described corruption as a major obstacle to Nigeria's development, saying its effects are felt most severely by poor Nigerians.

Obasanjo spoke on Monday in Lagos while chairing the public presentation of Unexplained Wealth: A Trilogy of Nigerian Financial Law, a three-volume work authored by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Wahab Shittu, at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island.

The former President said corruption and development could not coexist, describing illicit wealth as “anti-social,” “anti-development” and “anti-progress.”

“Those who suffer most in the corrupt society are the poor. And it makes them poorer,” Obasanjo said.

He said his interest in combating corruption dated back to his military career, when he served as a prosecutor under military law and participated in a court-martial involving corruption.

Obasanjo also recounted his later involvement with Peter Eigen, a former World Bank official who went on to establish Transparency International. According to Obasanjo, Eigen approached him about joining the fight against corruption after his experiences at the World Bank.

Obasanjo recalled that the organisation initially faced scepticism, including from former US Secretary of Defence and World Bank president Robert McNamara, who told them they were attempting the impossible.

He said he subsequently served as chairman of Transparency International's Advisory Council, while Eigen served as chairman.

Obasanjo also recalled efforts to persuade the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to end the practice of allowing companies to deduct bribes paid in business transactions as tax expenses.

According to his account, the campaign eventually succeeded after about three years and helped strengthen international efforts against corruption.

Reflecting on his administration as President, Obasanjo said the government took steps to strengthen Nigeria's anti-corruption framework, including the establishment of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

He said Transparency International had provided a model anti-corruption law that informed the legislation establishing the ICPC.

Obasanjo also recalled resistance to the legislation in the National Assembly before it was eventually passed.

“Then to strengthen it, I came up with the EFCC,” he said, while commending Nuhu Ribadu for his role in the commission's early years.

The former President said Nigeria had taken some anti-corruption measures before the United Nations adopted its international anti-corruption framework, describing the country's efforts as being ahead of the global initiative at the time.

Obasanjo said the subject of Shittu's book was one of the reasons he accepted the invitation to chair its presentation.

“Because I know one big bane of development of any human organisation, and particularly of a country, one big handicap to development is corruption. Corruption and development are strange bedfellows; they don't go together,” he said.

He stressed that no country had completely eliminated corruption but argued that governments could prevent it from becoming entrenched.

“There's nowhere in the world where corruption is totally eliminated. But there are many places in the world where corruption is not allowed to grow,” he said.

Obasanjo urged Nigeria and other African countries to strengthen their laws and institutions and maintain sustained efforts to combat corruption.

“We cannot make progress in our development as long as we allow corruption to lead,” he said.

The event also featured calls for caution in the enforcement of laws targeting unexplained wealth.

Former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, represented by his former Chief of Staff, Ade Ipaye, said efforts to recover stolen assets should be pursued within a framework that protects legitimately acquired property.

“What we need now most urgently is a clear, fair, and constitutionally sound approach that can recover what was stolen without threatening what was lawfully earned,” Osinbajo said.

The book's reviewer, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, SAN, similarly cautioned against treating the absence of conventional documentation as automatic proof that wealth was illegally acquired, particularly in Nigeria's large informal economy.

The author, Wahab Shittu, said the three-volume work was intended to help develop a system capable of distinguishing legitimate wealth from illicit enrichment.

He emphasised the importance of reliable documentation while arguing that becoming wealthy was not itself a crime.

The discussions at the event focused broadly on strengthening Nigeria's legal and institutional framework for identifying, investigating and recovering illicit wealth while protecting legitimate property rights and due process.