EFCC To Conduct Corruption Risk Assessment On MDAs

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa has hinted on plans to implement corruption risk assessment on some Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.

Bawa who disclosed this during an interview with Channels Television, frowned at the increasing rate of corrupt practices in government agencies.

He explained that most civil servants, do not regard the public service rules, especially in the award and execution of contracts.

According to the Chairman, the emergency contract policy is currently being abused by some agencies who have now turned all their contracts to emergency contracts because they do not want to go through the process of bidding.

“We are doing a lot, one of the strategies we are trying to renew and implement in our fight against corruption is to carry out corruption risk assessment on some of the MDAs.

“The process of awarding contract, whether or not the contracts are being executed, is another way of taking the money out.

“Also, we have instances where the contract has been awarded and done to specification, then there are bribery, kick-backs, going back and forth.”

According to him, no amount of money should leave government’s coffers without the procurement processes, noting that “this is where you see problems when it comes to corruption in the public service.”

He explained that the Commission has got the approval of the Minister of Petroleum to commence the assessment in all the parastatals and agencies under the ministry.

“I have written to the ministry of petroleum resources and the minister has responded accordingly. So we are going to carry out corruption risk assessment in all the parastatals and agencies under the ministry.

“It will enable us look at their vulnerability to fraud and corruption, and of course to advise them against the imbedded risk. And I think that is the way to go.

“It is after assessing how vulnerable you are to fraud that you can set up a committee of fraud risk management to see how to deal with them,” he said.