116 • The Official Secrets Act that allows public officials to withhold information from the public, which may aid and abet the concealment of corruption in the bureaucracy. • The operation of a large public service which often includes nepotism in recruitment and promotion practices. • Lack of disclosure of funding sources of political parties, which makes it difficult to minimise the power of money in party politics and avoid infiltration of political parties by criminal elements and drug barons. iii. Recommendations 322. The APR Panel recommends that: • The ICPC and EFCC be made more autonomous in reporting and financing. They should be accountable to the National Assembly and be funded directly from the Federation Account. Government should create ICPC and EFCC suborgans at state level. (Federal and state governments, national and state assemblies, ICPC and EFCC) • The offices of the auditors general of the federation and the states be expanded and strengthened, and government ensure that their reports enter the public domain extensively and speedily so as to facilitate information on public expenditures. (Auditor general, and federal and state governments) • The operations of the ICPC and EFCC be extended beyond Nigeria to cover the West African subregion in particular, where criminal elements are seeking safe havens to enjoy monies looted from Nigeria and/or continue nefarious activities that tarnish Nigeria’s international image. Such a subregional anticorruption network can be institutionalised within the ECOWAS framework. (Government, ICPC, EFCC, CSOs and ECOWAS) • Government consider the establishment of a political parties registration commission to regulate the activities of political parties. (National Assembly and government) • The CCB be equipped to conduct verification of assets and liabilities. (Legislatures, INEC and similar anticorruption and ethics bodies) • Specialised ‘corruption courts’ be set up to speedily try all corruption cases. The attorney general’s fiat should not be involved in such prosecutions, and decisions of these special courts should be subject to appeal only to the Supreme Court. (Judiciary, Ministry of Justice and government) • The government introduce anticorruption studies in the school curriculum to instil in children an awareness of the great evils of corruption and the need to combat corruption in all its forms and at all levels. (Ministry of Education) • A review of the laws creating the ICPC and the EFCC be undertaken to create an advisory committee to these institutions and, in particular,