Abuja- Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), an NGO, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to pay attention to police reforms and to wage total war against corruption and mass poverty.
National coordinator, HURIWA, Mr Emmanuel Onwubiko, made this call in a signed statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday.
Onwubiko described the smooth civilian -to-civilian transition programme that took place on May 29 as an unprecedented and successful.
He urged the new Federal Government to begin without further delay the comprehensive overhaul of the anti-graft machinery by appointing tested, trusted, fearless, incorruptible and competent persons to his cabinet.
The HURIWA boss stressed the need to appoint competent and qualified persons to head the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offences Commission (ICPC).
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He said HURIWA believed that the current leadership of the two anti corruption agencies have compromised in very unpleasant dimension.
“In the considered thinking of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria the incoming National Assembly should quickly move to amend the enabling laws.
“We urge that the new government to completely eschew partisan politics in the composition of new sets of persons to run the two anti corruption agencies.
“We acknowledge that corruption is at the centre of the mass poverty afflicting nearly 90 million Nigerians,” he said.
On police reforms, the Rights Group said the existing policing structure has abysmally failed demanding surgical overhaul of the entire foundations of the Nigeria Police Force.
There is need for the establishment of State Police as recommended by the National Political Conference organised by the last Jonathan led Federal Government.
“So long as the Nigerian policing institution remains largely ineffective and inefficient due to fundamentally defective structure and composition, the security situation of Nigeria will continue to deteriorate,” he said.
Onwubiko said any nation without an effective policing institution will continuously face crisis of insecurity of lives and property of the citizenry.
He said looted public funds must be repatriated and returned to public treasury with the looters named, shamed, prosecuted diligently and appropriately sanctioned by the competent court of law. (NAN)
