In what appears a lesson for Nigerian leaders at all levels especially the anti-corruption agencies, the EFCC and ICPC, Indonesia’s new president, Joko Widodo, couldn’t finish appointing his cabinet after the country’s independent anti-corruption agency rejected eight of his nominees.
Widodo is Indonesia’s first leader not from the political or military elite. He was formerly a popular governor of Jakarta.
Commonly known as Jokowi, he became the first Indonesian head of state to seek approval of his list of ministerial candidates from anti-corruption agencies before announcing the government, Reuters said.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on a TV interview, “The KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) notes and recommendations are being taken very seriously. Since the (election) campaign, Jokowi has promised that this cabinet has to be clean.”
This is a lesson for Nigerian government officials and anti-corruption on how to fight corruption and how to demonstrate your independence from the government as an anti-corruption agency. Nigerian governments have a history of rubber-stamp clearance of political appointees all of whom are usually cleared in spite of clear acts of corruption and corrupt practices tagged to their names.
Widodo, 53, was sworn into office Monday. He had planned to announce his 33-minister cabinet last Tuesday.
He didn’t identify the candidates rejected by the KPK.
He said earlier his team would be made up of 18 technocrats and 15 political appointees.
“Everyone wants us to work quickly but what happens if we are mistaken? We need to be quick, but also correct,” Widodo said Wednesday.
