The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the National Judicial Council (NJC) have agreed to reinforce its existing collaboration through the implementation of preventive mechanisms and prohibition of corrupt practices in the judiciary.
The drive for the reinforcement was mooted during the inauguration and induction of nominees of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) held at NJC Office, Abuja.
An Assistant Commissioner who represented the Commission, Mr. Hassan Salihu, noted that ICPC and the judiciary had a strong existing collaboration saying the inauguration of ACTU at NJC would further the ties.
“This event has added advantage to efforts of the ICPC in promoting and entrenching values of integrity, accountability and transparency in government establishments. This Unit being the first to be established in this Council is encouraged to faithfully discharge the ACTU mandate which will in-turn benefit both Management and Staff of the Council.”
The ICPC officer also charged the newly inaugurated ACTU members of the Council to uphold virtues of integrity, while discharging their duties just he warned that the unit was not set up as a parallel authority to the management.
“Let me state clearly that the ACTU is not set up as a parallel authority to management, rather it is expected to operate under the direct oversight of the Executive Secretary, so as to complement management’s effort in promoting transparency and accountability within the Council. We implore management to see the ACTU as a strong complementary initiative whose presence and activities would be beneficial to the Council.”
In his remark, the Executive Secretary of the NJC, Mr. Ahmed Gambo Saleh congratulated the inaugurated members of the ACTU just as he promised that the management of NJC was ready to give them the needed support to deliver on their mandate.
He said “This is a clear testimony of your recognition and I have a strong confidence that you will deliver on the given task. I want to assure you that the Council will also give you the needed support in order to succeed.”
ACTU is mandated to conduct periodic sensitization of staff on corruption; examination of systems, processes and procedures that are prone to corruption and proffering solutions.
It is also tasked with developing or reviewing domesticated Code of Ethics for the Council and ensuring staff compliance with same; monitoring budget implementation; coordinating the deployment of the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard and other tools as well as undertaking preliminary investigations into complaints/reports received amongst others.