No fewer than 27 officers of the Independent Corrupt practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), recently went through a 3-day intensive training at the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), the training and research arm of the Commission.
The main thrust of the training was to provide the participants with a broad view knowledge and technical know-how that will enable them deal with the Achilles’ heel of contract awarding process which is the public procurement process.
Speaking during the programme, ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, OFR, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Human Resource Management, Mr. Samson Iroka, underscored the importance of the training, stating that the nexus between corruption and procurement was at the niche of the Commission’s anti-corruption strategy.
According to him, the justification for the exclusive training was in tandem with robust strategies for preventing corruption which ICPC was aggressively deploying to curb illicit financial flows, poor budget implementation and abandoned projects amongst others.
He pledged that staff training and re-training, and capacity development would continue to remain the fulcrum of the Commission under the current Board and Management.
He therefore enjoined the participating officers to make the best use of the training opportunity as this would further enhance their knowledge and enable them to perform their duties optimally.
The 3-day training will equip the officers with various procurement procedures that will encourage integrity in procurement and projects execution.