The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN has commended the Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption programme (ROLAC) of the European Union (EU) for its interest in partnering with the Commission in the fight against corruption.
Prof. Owasanoye made this statement in Abuja recently at the opening ceremony of a three-day training organised by ICPC in collaboration with the European Union (EU) for executive members of Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTUs) of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) on the National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP) and the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS).
The ICPC boss, who was represented by an Honourable Member of the Commission, Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano, further stated that the Commission recognised and commended the various MDAs for their contributions to the fight against corruption despite the odds.
“In our estimation, ACTUs have been and would continue to be a vibrant tool of diminishing corruption in the public service especially at the federal level. We will continue to build the capacity of its members to enable them achieve the mandate for which they were established,” Prof. Owasanoye added.
He opined that the roundtable would provide everyone the opportunity to take stock, share experiences and evaluate the journey, so far, in the deployment of the EICS within the service.
In his presentation at the event titled, “Overview of the NEIP and Deployment of the Consequence Management Template”, the Director, Public Enlightenment and Education Department, Mohammed Ashiru Baba, fsi, stated that the NEIP became necessary to strengthen efforts at positive national transformation. This, he said, will be possible when all citizens and those who relate with Nigerians imbibe and embody the core values of the Policy.
The Director continued, “The country can reach national development goals when we reframe the meaning of the national purpose and adopt frames of mind, behaviours, choice and actions based on the demands of national core values.”
He added that NEIP urges all citizens to put Nigeria above all else and allow the core values we all hold in common to inspire our commitments and efforts to a better Nigeria.
Other presentations that border on designing a work plan and consequence management template for NEIP, Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiatives (CEPTI) and Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard were made at the occasion.