Professor Bolaji Owasanoye has been sworn in as the new Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
President, Muhammadu Buhari, swore in Prof. Owasanoye today at a brief ceremony in the Council Chamber, State House. Also sworn in were eight other new Board Members for the Commission.
While swearing them in, President Buhari noted that he was “particularly delighted that the ICPC law under which you will operate is robust enough to assist government to sanitise the public sector in service delivery, public procurement, diversion of public revenue, deliberate misuse of public funds, and so on.”
Responding, the new Chairman swore to eschew, expose and fight corruption. He also said that he was encouraged by the unquestionable, unshakeable and unequivocal stand of Mr. President against corruption, which indicated a very strong political will to fight corruption, and therefore promised on behalf of new Members that they would not disappoint the nation in their assignment.
The Senate had, late last year, screened and confirmed the professor and other board nominees whose nominations had been pending for over a year.
The Hon. Members that were sworn in with Prof. Owasanoye are Grace Chinda (Delta State), Titus Okolo (Enugu), Obiora Igwedebia (Anambra), Justice Adamu Bello (Katsina).
Others include Olubukola Balogun (Lagos), Hannatu Muhammed (Jigawa), Abdulahi Saidu (Niger) and Yahaya Dauda (Nasarawa).
The Chairman will be in office for a tenure of 5 years, which is renewable only once, while the Board Members have a 4-year tenure that is also renewable only once.
Prof. Owasanoye will be the fourth substantive Chairman of ICPC since its inception and has by the swearing-in taken over the reins of office from the acting Chairman, Dr. Musa Usman Abubakar, who is the Commission’s Secretary.