Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Usman Abubakar, has disclosed the completion of arrangements for the creation of a Visa Fraud Unit at the Lagos office of the Commission.
Dr. Abubakar made this disclosure at the ICPC headquarters recently while making remarks during the 2018 Send-Off ceremony in honour of retirees of the Commission.
He said the unit would be set up in collaboration with the British High Commission and would specifically tackle the visa scam cases being perpetrated by some unscrupulous Nigerians. It would be recalled that ICPC had successfully prosecuted numerous of such offenders.
The Acting Chairman spoke about ICPC’s activities in the year 2018 and listed some of its achievements to include: the discovery of unremitted funds into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by some government agencies; many convictions; system study of some MDAs; unveiling of report on Corruption Risk Assessment on e-government platforms by the President; reduction in visa scam (among others).
Earlier, the Head of Administration, Mr. Bala Mohammed, had welcomed members of staff, family of the retirees and all guests to the occasion. His words: “. . . ladies and gentlemen I welcome you all to this occasion, and I wish to use this opportunity to appreciate and congratulate the retirees for their contributions to this Commission in the fight against corruption, and services to the nation.”
The retirees who were honoured with plaques and other gift items, spoke through their representative, Mr. Gad Nathaniel Bako, a retired Commissioner and former Head of Administration.
He said “on behalf of other retirees, I wish to thank the management and staff of ICPC for appreciating our modest contributions and finding us worthy of recognition and honour. We are willing and ready to continue serving this country in any way the Commission may find any of us relevant for in the future.”
The retirees who were accompanied to the occasion by their family members include: Mr. G N Bako, Mr. Olukile Theophilus, Mr. Lucky Nwosu, Mr. L O Olokun, and Mr. A. Z Nuhu. Others include: Mr. Tanko Abdullahi, Mr. Abdullahi Haruna and Mr. N E James.
The occasion also had in attendance, The Director, Public Enlightenment and Spokesperson of the Commission, Mrs. R. A. Okoduwa, mni and all Heads of Departments/Units or their representatives.
The End-of-Year Party and Send-off Ceremony is one of the motivational tool used by the Commission to recognize and reward contributions of staff and meritorious service by retirees to ICPC and the nation at large.