65th Independence Anniversary: Let’s Interrogate Tinubu’s “No More Corruption” Claim; At NCS, TCN and The CBN ------- By Prof Bolaji Akinyemi
As Nigeria marks her **65th Independence Anniversary—our second under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—**there is both cause for reflection and reason for alarm.
Introduction: A Dangerous Declaration
As Nigeria marks her **65th Independence Anniversary—our second under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—**there is both cause for reflection and reason for alarm.
Recently, in Brazil, before ministers and investors, the President declared that “there is no more corruption in Nigeria.” He cited reforms at the Central Bank and a restructured foreign exchange window as evidence of transparency.
But at home, the claim rang hollow. Nigerians confronted daily by police extortion, collapsing infrastructure, judicial compromise, and spiraling hardship could only ask: Which Nigeria does Mr. President see?
At the very moment he proclaimed transparency abroad, scandals were brewing at the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).
When a President declares the absence of corruption while the arteries of state drip with it, the gap between rhetoric and reality becomes not just embarrassing but criminal. Omoyele Sowore’s description of Tinubu as “hypocrite-in-chief” suddenly finds resonance.
Customs: A Captured Revenue Gate
Customs is Nigeria’s trade artery and one of its highest revenue earners. Yet today, it is entangled in illegality, racketeering, and impunity.
Illegal Concession: In 2022, Customs signed a 20-year modernization concession with Trade Modernization Project Ltd (TMP) without ministerial approval, far outside its legal mandate. Three years later, no ICT upgrade is visible, yet TMP continues to pocket 45% of CISS and 25% of NESS fees—billions siphoned for ghost services.
Unlawful 4% FOB Levy: On September 15, 2025, the Ministry of Finance ordered Customs to suspend a new 4% FOB levy, citing inflationary risks and lack of legal basis. This was not routine oversight but proof of illegality.
Insider Allegations: Testimonies expose monetized postings, shadow clearances, auction fraud, and reckless spending. Customs’ cost of collection ballooned from ₦364bn in 2018 to over ₦1.1tn projected in 2025—yet workers’ welfare stagnates.
Customs has become a parallel state, frustrating trade, inflating costs for small businesses, and exposing Nigeria to smuggling, narcotics, and arms infiltration.
CBN: Monetary Policy as Organized Bleeding
At the Central Bank, Governor Olayemi Cardoso presides over a monetary regime that betrays Tinubu’s campaign promise of shared prosperity.
Interest Rates: Lending rates were raised to 15% amid MSME collapse. Small businesses—the lifeblood of our economy—are strangled by policies designed for elite creditors.
BOI Intervention Funds: Instead of circulating to industries, intervention funds are warehoused, worsening industrial paralysis.
Naira Freefall: The naira continues its dizzying decline, while food inflation soars and poverty deepens.
Cardoso has turned the naira into a dam withholding water from irrigating the corporate seeds of Nigerian citizens.
TCN and the Power Sector Scandal
The power sector is perhaps the most scandalous.
₦16bn Monthly Leakages: Insiders allege ₦16bn is siphoned monthly through opaque billing and transmission losses factor. Citizens pay for electricity never transmitted and and collection syhpooned by the cabals.
Cabals and Complicity: TCN management remains silent, while Minister Adebayo Adelabu is accused of enabling a cabal that bleeds the sector.
Citizen Impact: Instead of reliable electricity, Nigerians are trapped in endless blackouts while profiteers pocket billions. Every grid collapse reminds us that the sector is still a cesspool of corruption.
Broken Promises at the Presidency
The rot at Customs, CBN, and TCN cannot be separated from the Presidency. Leadership is not promises but implementation. Tinubu campaigned on three pillars:
1. Security: Yet, the IGP seeks to turn tinted-glass regulations into revenue extortion. Nigerians are still kidnapped, villages torched, and insurgents roaming.
2. Education: Reforms have stalled. Students face strikes, underfunding, and unaffordable fees while corruption drains the education budget.
3. Agriculture: Food security remains a mirage. Banditry, subsidy mismanagement, and elite capture keep Nigeria dependent on food imports.
PVC-Naija: Restoring Accountability Through Governance Impact Assessment
At Project Victory Call Initiative (PVC-Naija), which I am privileged to chair, we believe Nigeria must go beyond rhetoric to measurable performance.
On this Independence Day, we announce a Governance Impact Assessment framework to evaluate the performance of all elected public servants. This framework will:
Track their promises against delivery.
Provide Nigerians with a midterm scorecard ahead of 2027, giving officials the chance to either double up or bow out.
Recognize performing public servants through our flagship event—“A Nite for Naija” Awards.
At this awards night, citizens, not cabals, will elect who deserves honour. Public servants who excel in service will be publicly recognized, while those who fail will be confronted by truth.
This is how we must build a democracy of accountability.
Conclusion: Between Independence and Dependence
At 65, Nigeria should be a nation of hope. Yet corruption keeps us dependent, impoverished, and mocked. Customs bleeds trade. CBN strangles the naira. TCN suffocates power. And the Presidency shields them all.
President Tinubu’s declaration of “no more corruption” is not just false—it is dangerous. It insults citizens, deceives investors, and emboldens rent-seekers.
So, we must ask: Will Adeniyi remain at Customs to mortgage trade? Will Cardoso continue at CBN to dam the naira? Will Adelabu and the cabals persist at TCN, pocketing billions while Nigerians sit in darkness?
On this Independence Anniversary, PVC-Naija calls on citizens to demand accountability, insist on truth, and participate in our Governance Impact Assessment.
For to cover corruption with rhetoric is itself the highest form of corruption. And nothing is more criminal than a leader speaking lies in hypocrisy in defiance of the suffering of his people.
Citizen Bolaji O. Akinyemi, is the
Chairman, Board of Trustees
Project Victory Call Initiative, PVC-Naija.
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