ICPC Seeks Standardised Template For Anti-Corruption Agencies
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has called for a standardised template for all anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) to strengthen its fight against corruption in Nigeria.
The ICPC Chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, made this call while briefing members of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, on the level of ICPC’s implementation of NACs in Abuja.
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According to him, the templates are part of measures needed to enhance performance in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
“The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has aligned its 2019 – 2023 Strategic Plan with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS).
“ICPC held a strategic workshop to review the implementation of its 2013 – 2017 Strategic Plan and come up with a new Strategy that would align with the spirit and letters of the NACS,” he said.
He explained that the commission had incorporated 40 key activities of the NACS 2017-2021 into its Strategic Action Plan.
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The 40 activities were further subsumed into 32 activities in the ICPC Strategic Plan 2019 – 2023.
“Also, 36 activities were identified for development of policies and manuals to help the Commission achieve its core mandates, thus making a total of 68 Strategic Activities in ICPC Operational Plan,” he said.
On the five pillars of NACS, which cover prevention, enforcement, governance issues, asset tracing, recovery and management, and citizens’ engagement, Owasanoye informed the Senate Committee of ICPC’s ongoing effort to sensitize the Nigerian citizens on the National Ethics and Integrity Policy.
“Awareness has been conducted in North-East, North-West, and North Central, while that of South West is currently taking place,” he added.
On asset tracing, recovery and management, he stated, “For us in ICPC, we have a full blown department that deals with this. All recovered assets are carefully documented and updated monthly. They are also being strategically applied and categorized whether they are under interim forfeiture or final forfeiture.”
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The Committee was also briefed on the giant strides the Commission was making in the area of enforcement.
In his welcome remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Suleiman Abdu Kwari, explained that the briefing became necessary in order to take stock of the successes recorded in the implementation of various objectives of NACS.
Kwari added, ‘We are here to identify the activities, action plan and the progress made so far. If there are any constraints, speak up so that we can find ways and means to provide remediation.’
“By the end of this exercise we should be able to provide a clear picture of where we are actually and produce a report which will guide implementation on the next step,” he concluded.
The NACS is one of programmes adopted by Nigeria to strengthen anti-corruption reforms by exposing and driving out the culture of corruption in the country.
