As part of the effort to reduce the menace of corruption in the Ministry of Defence, the government has introduced a Government- to- Government initiative also known as G-to-G in the procurement process.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Ambassador Danjuma Sheni, dropped this hint recently at an anti-corruption sensitization workshop organized by the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the ministry for its senior staff.
He said, the workshop was appropriate and timely especially now that, “ this administration is carrying out various reforms in the Federal Public Service to ensure prompt, accurate, efficient and effective delivery of quality services to the public, adding that ‘the public expects no less and the government certainly expects no less”.
Amb. Sheni further said, “The change campaign has become necessary, especially for us in the Ministry of Defence, considering the not- too-long ago mind-boggling revelations in the public domain with regards to the procurement of arms. In addition, the Public Service has witnessed cases of corruption by officers which have created a bad image for it.
‘The good news however is that government, more than ever, is committed to reversing this trend in the procurement process for the Armed Forces. To this end, all categories of government procurements have now come under the G-to-G initiative with effect from this 2016 procurement exercise. The import of this is that it will ensure accountability, transparency and due process and real value for money”.
According to him, “Strict adherence to the extant laws will not only regulate our attitude to work and relationship with the public but will go a long way to minimizing, if not eliminating the widespread occurrences of suppressing official records, false claims, delay of files, embezzlement, dishonesty in the course of discharging official duties, absenteeism without excuses, willful acts of omission and other general misconduct in the public sector”.
In his welcome address, the Head of ACTU, Mr. Uche Arinze, revealed that the workshop was the first of its kind in the year, especially for the Management cadre, adding that the effects of corruption were far- reaching and could destroy the very existence of an organization or society.
According to him, “Corruption comes in various forms, and to curb or eradicate it, there is need for preventive strategies”. He urged the participants to use the platform to interact and generate enduring ideals that would aid a sustainable systemic cleansing process.
Two key officers of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Mr. Bello Dauda of Administrative Department and Mr. Justin Kuatsea, of Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Department (CMED) delivered sensitization papers on Corruption in the Workplace and Roll and Mandate of ACTU in the Fight Against Corruption respectively.