The Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Honourable Bako Abdullahi, has called on the management and staff of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports to lend their support to the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the ministry.
Hon. Abdullahi who was represented by Assistant Commissioner, Corruption Monitoring and Evaluation Department of ICPC, Mr. Justin Kuatsea, made this call at the reconstitution and induction ceremony of the ACTU held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
The Acting Chairman charged the members not to allow corruption hinder the Ministry from realizing its mandate of evolving, planning and monitoring the implementation of government policies and programmes for youth and sports development.
He maintained that “ACTU will not only assist the Ministry in attaining sustainable results, but also aid processes that will lead to attainment of a desired impact on the youth of the nation”.
The ICPC boss also explained that from the experiences of ACTUs in other government establishments, the unit had actually justified its existence, and urged members to always serve as ICPC’s watchdog in order to checkmate corrupt practices.
Hon. Abdullahi further advised them to perform their duties with utmost integrity and commitment in line with the operational guidelines of the unit without being haughty to the Management of the organisation.
In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Olusade Adesola, noted that corruption in Nigeria was “learned.” He therefore urged Nigerians to “unlearn it in order to build a better nation.”
Mr. Adesola also commended ICPC’s proactive and preventive measure at cleansing the systems of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of all forms of corruption.
In his closing remarks, the ACTU Chairman, Mr. Okeke Patrick, said corruption was the cause of underdevelopment and poverty in Nigeria and it was important to fight it. He pledged that with the support of the Management, the unit would do its utmost best to curb corruption in the Ministry.