IGBINEDION: WORKABILITY OF THE NORMS OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY AGAINST CORRUPTION 149 WORKABILITY OF THE NORMS OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA Simeon Igbinedion* ABSTRACT his paper discusses the workability of the existing norms of transpar- Tency and accountability in the battle against corruption in Nigeria. In- controvertibly, high level corruption pervades every nook and cranny of the country to the detriment of its citizens. Although anti-corruption norms exist in the Nigerian legal order, high profile corruption remains endemic, suggesting that the norms are unworkable. This paper argues that the unworkability of transparency and account- ability norms in Nigeria is largely attributable to the contradictions, incon- sistencies or deficiencies inherent therein. Consequently, the paper suggests ways of putting the norms to work against corruption in Nigeria. Keywords: Corruption, Governance, Sustainable Development * LL.B, B.L, LL.M, Ph.D: Lecturer, Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, Fac- ulty of Law, University of Lagos; E-mail:
[email protected]. I am grateful to the two anonymous referees who reviewed and offered useful comments on the earlier draft of this article. 150 AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY: JOURNAL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW AND POLICY (2014) 3:1 1. INTRODUCTION orruption has become a fact of life in Nigeria, ravaging the country’s Csocio-political and economic sectors.1 Though corruption arguably ex- ists in every country, its effects, extent and magnitude