The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, has expressed the willingness of the Commission to collaborate with the American Embassy on information and data sharing.
Prof. Owasanoye made this known when he received the new Director of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) Nigeria, Mr. Jason Smith, who visited the Commission in Abuja.
Owasanoye said ICPC and INL had enjoyed a good working relationship over the years in the areas of information sharing and capacity-building for officers of the Commission.
In his words, “We appreciate this kind of collaboration and the efforts the US government puts into our work by providing capacity building for our officers. We look forward to exchanging intelligence on issues of mutual benefits”.
The ICPC boss also told the guests that the Commission focuses largely on major preventive initiatives to help safeguard public funds as opposed to losing resources in the process of pursuing stolen public funds.
He also said that the Commission was working to ensure that programmes put in place by Federal government for the benefit of the people produce lasting results, noting that ICPC approaches issues of behavioural change through the National Ethics and Integrity Policy.
He was appreciative of the hands-on disposition of the new director displayed through his visit to the Commission and wished him a good stay. “Despite the challenging times the Nation is facing in terms of security, we wish you a productive and safe stay here in Nigeria”, he concluded.
Earlier in his remarks, Mr. Smith said he was on a familiarization visit to the Commission to appreciate the work of ICPC in combatting corruption even as he expressed his desire to continue with the existing collaboration between his office and ICPC.