The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said that many grants from the World Bank are marred in corruption.

Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, Chairman of the anti-corruption body, said this when he hosted a delegation of the Economic and Organised Crime Office of Ghana recently.

Owasanoye, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the political economy of the international ecosystem was not designed for developing countries to progress in the fight against corruption.

“We have to understand as developing countries that the political economy of the international ecosystem is not designed for us to progress no matter how hard we try.’

It is enlightened self-interest. For example, Nigeria borrowed one billion dollars in 1978. As at 2006, when we had the write-off, Nigeria was owing 32 billion dollars and it is designed in that way because of their rules of engagement and dispute resolution. The rule uses the IMF and the World Bank to whip you into line when you want to challenge the debt.

“How many countries have taken the World Bank to court? Does it not have failed loans? Many of the loans the World Bank grants are marred in corruption but nobody has the courage to take them to court because those issues are usually politically determined,” he said.

Source: dailytrust.com

Photo Credit: Independent