Kano PCAD: Fighting Corruption and InjusticeBy: Hassan S. IndabawaKano, Nigeria
Marcus Tullius, a renown philosopher, once said; “The fundamentals of justice are that no one shall suffer wrong and that the public good be served”.
This axiom recommends a protection for the weak and vulnerable, and a punishment for the powerful who use their powers to suppress the weak and vulnerable: most often the weak and vulnerable suffer wrong from the powerful but do not have the material means to ac access justice.
Kano State’s Public complaints and Anti-corruption Directorate (PCAD), evidently, was established with this reality in mind. The directorate, a two-fold government agency, is the only one of its kind in the country. It is one corporate giant, which seeks to do a lot of things in one fell swoop; by doing what several other agencies are trying to do individually.
For the avoidance of doubt, these are some of the functions of the directorate: Investigation and redress of complaints from the public, support for citizens whose rights have been violated to get justice, and dissemination of information to raise public awareness on citizens rights and duties, among other specific functions.
Several organs of government in Kano alone try to do these things in their separate capacities. The organs include ministry of Justice, Directorate of Social Re-orientation (A daidaita sahu), Kano State Hisbah Board, Shariah Commission, Kano State Command of Nigeria Police Force and the State Project Monitoring Bureau. The complaints and anticorruption directorate has the following equivalent at the Federal level: Public complaints commission, National Human Rights Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences commission (ICPC), Economic and financial crimes commission (EFCC), code of conduct tribunal, and Legal Aid Council.
The Public complaints and Anti-corruption Directorate (PCAD) of Kano State collaborates with the related state and federal institutions listed above to carry out its functions effectively, the overall mission being to attain public accountability and guarantee the rights of the weak and vulnerable throughout the state.
Director General of the directorate, Alhaji Aminu Inuwa Muhammad, announced recently that between May last year and last month, the directorate has received 254 complaints and petitions, treated most of them, and recorded 35 percent success in solving the complaints.
Breaking down the complaints for specific mention, Alhaji Aminu Muhammad Stated: “A total of 167 cases of public complaints were received. The complaints bordered on matters affecting family, land, housing, business contracts, civil service and civil society; cases on land matters, housing and civil service being in the majority.
The Rights, Promotion and Protection department has similarly received 25 petitions, most of them on police brutality and human rights abuses. The Anti-corruption Department has received 42 petitions from within and outside organizations and are mostly against Local Government Councils, Government Agencies and departments, and a few on government officials”.
He said the directorate achieved many projected development growth such as the setting up of a Public relations unit mandated to design strategies of continually sensitizing members of the public against corruption, some identifiable ways of doing this being the sponsorship of radio and television jingles, holding press interviews and making periodic releases and statements, all on the activities of the directorate which include educating the public on issues of corruption and violation citizen’s rights.
The Public complaints and Anti-corruption directorate (PCAD) is widely accepted as the result of the determination of the Kano State Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to promote accountability in public and civil service, social justice, and the guarantee of rights of the less privileged in society. The Governor established the directorate April last year and appointed Alhaji Aminu Inuwa Muhammad its director general and chief executive.
Governor Ibrahim Shekarau commands much respect among those who know him closely and many observers as a honourable man by fair assessment, a man of a golden name founded on transparent leadership devoid of corruptive tendencies. He stands out as an exemplary icon of credibility among his peers. Which is why he could stand stoutly recently to take a swipe on some of his colleagues.
Coming across as a gentleman who fears God and tries to please Him through whatever he does, he said many of Nigeria’s 36 State Governors dip their fingers into the public purse under their trust and stack whatever they find therein in foreign banks not minding the possible consequences with the Almighty God who sees and judges.
Governor Shekarau spoke at a workshop organized by the Public complaints and Anti-corruption Directorate (PCAD) for State Senior executives on corruption in contemporary governance in Kano State. His comment was a reaction to the arrest of former Bayelsa State Governor, Deprieye Alamieyeseigha, and resulting impeachment that sent the governor out of office. Shekarau said the impeached governor and his likes are bad examples in societies that are trying hard to wipe out corruption from public life. He regretted that the impeached governor’s case is, as he put it, “a testimony that most governors in Nigeria regard public treasury as their personal property much of which they convert to their personal use”.
Governor Shekarau was convinced enough about his attitude against corruption to canvass the removal of Nigerian Constitutional immunity Clause in favour of Governors so that Governors who misuse their offices could be more easily punished. He told the workshop participants to embrace good leadership qualities because, according to him: “ There is no way one can demonstrate good leadership qualities without showing exemplary principles like those of the Prophet of Islam (SAW).”
Taking a cue from his boss in a recent function, Alhaji Aminu Inuwa Muhammad said if the Public complaints and Anti-corruption Directorate (PCAD) is to succeed, officials in the State must show deep commitments to transparent leadership. He further added:” We’ve worked hard at our level in the directorate but we need complementary role of every officer of government. The fight against corruption and injustice is our collective fight. All government officials must be seen to be trustworthy and accountable. We can’t afford to do any of the things we have vowed to war against. We must lead by example. We must embrace honesty, hard work, diligence, patriotism, and prudence in all financial transactions.”
For effect, Alhaji Aminu added that the war against corruption and injustice would not be confined to the major and urban centers of the State. He said: “We have made plans on how we could effectively reach the grass roots. We are carrying to them the message against corruption and the reasons to really fight it and fight it together. We are reaching right down to rural areas. We’re employing rigorous public enlightenment and mass mobilization to do this. We are glad that we are steadily moving ahead in this struggle against corruption.”
And the struggle seem to be yielding result by the public response, and the relative sanity that is now the land mark of Governor Shekarau Administration.
Indabawa, a public affairs commentator, wrote in from Kano.
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