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Tag: Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission

  • Man who forged his best man’s medical school certificates gets over four years in jail

    Man who forged his best man’s medical school certificates gets over four years in jail

    A fake medical doctor, Martins Ugwu (54 years), who claimed ownership of his best man’s medical school certificates, with which he got employed in the Federal Ministry of Health, has been jailed for four years and two months.

    Justice Abubakar Kutigi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Jabi, Abuja pronounced the sentence in a ruling on Tuesday.

    Justice Kutigi sentenced Ugwu to six months on each count of the seven-count charge on which he was prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

    The judge, who said the sentences shall run consecutively, said it was necessary to send a signal to those in the habit of claiming what they are not and making a false representation.

    He noted that in his plea for mercy, the defendant did not exhibit any sense of remorse, but instead, sought to blame others for his conduct.

    Justice Kutigi noted that the issue of quack doctors was assuming a troubling dimension in the country.

    He said it was of grave concern that the defendant used fake certificates to get employment in the Federal Civil Service and rose to a senior position in the Federal Ministry of Health before he was found out.

    The judge said it was also of concern that the defendant might have practised as a medical doctor for years and in the process attended to innocent patients.

    He said although the defendant was a first-time offender, with a young family, he was not remorseful despite the gravity of his offence.

    Justice Kutigi also noted that the defendant still has about three criminal cases pending against him in court, one before another judge of the High Court of the FCT, another pending before the Abuja division of the Federal High Court and the third one before a High Court of Ondo State in Akure.

    The judge then proceeded to sentence him to a total of four years and two months in jail.

    He ordered the defendants to refund the salaries and allowances she wrongfully earned while he was employed between 2006 and 2016, estimated at N17,024,017. 90.

    The judge held that should the defendant be unable to repay the money, he should be made to serve an additional one year in jail.

    Justice Kutigi, who noted that the defendant was brought from a prison in Akure, where he was remanded by an Ondo High Court, ordered that he should be returned to Akure to face his ongoing trial there.

    Justice Kutigi had, in a judgment on October 3, held that the prosecution, represented by Osuobeni Akponimisingha, proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    The judge proceeded to convict Ugwu in absentia and reserved sentencing until when he was apprehended and produced in court.

    Exploring inter-agencies collaboration, the ICPC was able to facilitate his transfer from the Akure prison, where he was being held in respect of the Akure case, for the sentence that was pronounced on Tuesday.

    Ugwu was said to have assumed the ownership of the certificate of his best man during his wedding, Dr. George Daniel Davidson, with which he got employed in the federal civil service at the Federal Ministry of Health.

    Read Also: Felony Republic: Inside Lagos’ black market for forged affidavits, marriage certificates, police clearance, others

    He was, in the charge, marked: CR/273/2015, also accused of using fake documents/certificates to procure a staff identity card, bearing the name of Dr. George Daniel Davidson; applied for annual leave as well as a postgraduate training programme which would have conferred on him a Masters degree in the field of Epidemiology Practice.  

    Ugwu was equally accused of making false statements to the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, through which he secured employment in the Federal Ministry of Health, in 2006.

    He was alleged to have unlawfully drawn salaries and allowances up to N17.2 million between 2006 and 2016, after working for about ten years as a medical doctor at the Federal Ministry of Health with fake documents/certificates.

  • Poll: ICPC moves to seek solutions to vote buying

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences  Commission (ICPC) on Thursday said its research wing, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria(ACAN) will organize dialogue to find solutions to vote and results buying.

    It said the measure is part of a long term to protect the sanctity of the nation’s electoral process.

    These disclosures were made by the Provost of ACAN, Prof. Sola Akinrinade at a briefing in Abuja.

    Akinrinade said: “the truth is that we are all living witnesses to the various challenges relating to our electoral process.

    Read Also: ICPC tasks NASS on transparency

    “It is almost an open knowledge that vote buying is a phenomenon that has been part and parcel of our electoral process, including when the nation adopted Option A4 system.

    “We are looking at addressing the issues at fundamental level. This is why we are g=holding a dialogue with all the stakeholders. There is also the phenomenon of results buying.

    “When we finish with the dialogue, we will issue a policy brief which will guide the legislature at all levels to checkmate vote and results buying.”

    While giving more insights into the dialogue, which will hold on Tuesday, Akinrinade said the nation cannot continue to do things the old ways.

    He added: ”The National Dialogue on Eradicating Electoral Corruption with focus on Vote Buying is very apt at this critical point. The electoral process is an important pillar of democracy. Therefore, corrupt practices in the process raise serious concerns.

    “While the 2019 elections have been conducted, the matters associated with them will continue to reverberate until the next elections in 2023. The regular contestation of the outcome of elections is a pointer to the need to address foundational issues relating to them.

    “The National Anti-Corruption Strategy specifically requires stakeholders to carry out activities which aim, “To strengthen the electoral process across the Federal, State and Local Government Levels to engender public confidence.” The ultimate goal is to engender a “more credible electoral culture” in the country.

    “It is, therefore, intended that this Dialogue shall precipitate a policy framework that will guide the electorate, the election management body, political parties and anti-corruption agencies on reporting and dealing with vote buying in the electoral process.

    “Stakeholders and other participants expected at the dialogue, which is to be chaired by the Chairman, Independent National Election Commission, INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, include key officials from the executive and legislative branches of Government; the national electoral umpire, [NBC and representatives of political parties; Anti-Corruption and Law Enforcement Agencies; Faith-based and Civil Society Organizations; Development Partners; Organized Labor; academics, and others.”

    He explained why ICPC through ACAN was organizing policy dialogues.

    “ACAN Policy Dialogues are designed to bring topical anticorruption issues to the fore of national discourse.

    “The Dialogues seek to engender discussions that will aid the formulation or modification of policies and legislation on topical matters.

    “It is intended that the Policy Dialogues will focus on matters that require urgent attention because they lack either effective policy guidance or suitable legislative frameworks. The Dialogues will create an avenue to discuss key issues, share points of view and try to find common ground, agreement or consensus on the policy matter in focus.

    “The ultimate goal of all our programming activities is to achieve critical reductions in corruption incidences in the polity through prevention. If we are to achieve sustainable development, then we must complement current enforcement measures in the war against corruption with effective prevention strategies.”

  • Alleged ICPC probe: Yar’Adua Foundation denies ownership of property

    The Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation yesterday denied ownership of an asset linked with it by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission as part of the seizure of assets worth N N4.8 billion.

    The Director-General of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, Jacqueline W. Farris made the clarification in a statement in Abuja.

    The statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to a newspaper article citing ICPC spokesperson, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, claiming seizure of property belonging to the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation for tax evasion.

    Read also: Shehu Musa Yar’Adua: Twenty years after

    “Following our request for clarification, the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission has confirmed that their reference is not to the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, RC No. 350618.

    “For the record, the Yar’Adua Foundation owns no property apart from the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre located at One Memorial Drive, Central Business District, Abuja.”

    “The Foundation wishes to assure the public that we are in full compliance with all tax regulations and have received our tax certificate for the year 2018 TCC NO: 10459848. “

  • Akanbi: A poet and quintessential jurist, bows out

    Justice Mustapha Akanbi, who died on June 3, was the first Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), between 2000 and 2005. Known for his avowed determination to fight corruption, he was also a poet, writer and author of many books. Edozie Udeze, in this tribute traces his life history, his love for poetry and lots more.

    Justice Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi who passed on on June 3 at the age of 85, was one of the most celebrated and quintessential Nigerian jurists, writers and poets.  Born on September 11, 1932 in Accra, Ghana, he rose through dint of handwork and determination to become a colossus and one of the foremost crusaders against corruption in the society.

    Beyond his role as the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) where he held sway from 2000 to 2005, Akanbi was an author, writer and poet.  During the last   outing of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) in Ilorin, Kwara State, last month, Akanbi was able to talk about books, his life as a poet and writer.

    He noted that writing was the best way for him to impact the society.  He wrote his first poems in 1947, “Today”, he said, “before I go to bed, I read a few lines of poetry.  This helps me to sleep well.  I read poems a lot: I love to reflect on their meanings.  Recently, I distributed some of the poems I wrote in the 1940s.  The poems have made me to love the culture of reading. You see, it is good to read well; it is good to be in love with books.  Books expose you into the world.  When you are well read, people will not be able to intimidate you or force you to do what you shouldn’t do”, he said in that august encounter.

    Akanbi used most of his works to lampoon society and redraw attention to inept leadership.  In one of his works titled Judiciary and the Challenges of Justice: Selected Papers and Speeches, he made it clear that the judiciary has a role to play to cleanse the society of corrupt elements at the helm of affairs.  He told ANA gathering in Ilorin,  “It is your responsibility to write to change this society.  The level of corruption is high.  Your works should dwell on issues that will help to make this society a saner place for all and sundry.  This is why I keep telling my children to be of good conduct and to ensure that education remains their bedrock.  This is so because good education takes you to the highest level in life”.

    Akanbi who was accompanied to the venue of the event held at the KNOWLEDGE Platform, Ilorin by aides, equally established the centre to encourage scholarship in Kwara State.  The Knowledge Platform, a resource event centre for workshops and conferences, also has a library attached to it.  “This centre is always open to discuss literature and literary matters”, he opined, while ANA officials from different states of the federation cheered him on.  “This  is a place where you can gather to brainstorm on issues of literature, writing and scholarship”, he told authors who had gathered to fine-tune ways to deepen grassroots literary awareness campaign.”  Today, Yusuf Ali (SAN ) has helped to prosper ANA to an enviable level.  I am happy that the fortunes of the association is in safe hands.  Therefore, it is time for you to face  challenges by using your pen to change a lot of things”.

    Akanbi who was hell bent on using the opportunity of this interaction to preach scholarship to those who should help to redeem the people, draw attention to his first poems written in 1947.  “Those were great moments for me.  I found poetry deep enough to help my scholarship.  Often it I’d sit down to pen down those inner feelings to let the society also learn from me.  What you are doing is not easy.  But you have to face it; writing is difficult.  But it is your role to write.  Don’t be discouraged by anyone who feels that you are disturbing them or the like”, he said, noting that “Corruption should be fought head-on.  And writings, good works of art can be one of the means to do so”.

     

    Early Life

    In his autobiography titled The Story of My Two Worlds: Challenges, Experiences and Achievements, he was able to trace his history from nothing to something.  Born in Accra, Ghana in 1932, he had his early education there. After his secondary school education, he worked in the Ghana Civil Service as an executive officer.  Then later he became an active trade unionist where he stood solidly for the welfare of workers.  He later returned to Nigeria where he worked as a broadcaster  with the Federal Ministry of Education.  Soon after, he obtained a scholarship to study Law at the Institute of Administration, now the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.

    In order to further enhance the scope of his knowledge, he went to the United Kingdom where he did another degree in Law.  He was called to the English Bar in 1963.  In January 1964, he was called to the Nigerian Bar and later joined the Ministry of Justice.  There he soon became a Senior State Council. This was in 1968.  In 1969, he set up a private practice in Kano.  Again, in 1974, he was appointed a judge of the Federal Revenue Court.  Then in January 1977, he was elevated to the Court of Appeal Bench.  In 1992, he was made president of the Nigerian Court of Appeal, a position he held until he retired in 1999.

    He once said, “Corruption has been described as a cankerworm, a malaise that has afflicted our nation and done havoc to our corporate existence”.  He therefore attributed this to the lack of will by leaders and reluctance of law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute sacred cows.

    When he left ICPC in 2005, he joined the board of Justice and Law Enforcement Reformation Organization whose primary aim was to continually and consistently fight corruption and eradicate poverty in the land.  And so in 2006, he established the Mustapha Akanbi Foundation in Ilorin. It was dedicated to fighting corruption and encouraging culture of transparency and accountability.  Also, the Knowledge Platform was established to promote education and help scholars have avenues to discuss literary matters.  With the Akanbi Library attached to it, most students in Ilorin now have conducive environment to read and undertake researches in different professional fields and callings.

     

    Testimonies

    Testimonies have been pouring in since his demise.  Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo who appointed him chairman of ICPC in 2000 to fight and stem the tide of corruption in Nigeria, said that, Akanbi’s background and disposition were formidably humble, unassuming and oozing with patent honesty and integrity.  “Therefore, I lost no time in settling for him, even though it wasn’t an easy task to be able to convince or persuade him to accept the task.  I had to use all power of persuasion at my disposal to move him to yield”.  According to Obasanjo, a lot of names were presented to him to select from, yet, he settled for Akanbi because as it was then the urgent need to find a man of transparent honesty to lead the ICPC stared him in the face.

    He went on: “In a country like ours which is abundantly endowed with stars and frontiersmen, Justice Akanbi was one genuine patriot who radiated transparency within our national space and beyond.  He was a distinguished Nigerian, whose life was devoted entirely to the service of the nation.  He was humble, a role model and a nationalist.  All of these explain his conferment with the medal of the Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFR)  and appointment in 2000 by me to head the ICPC. It was a body vested with the statutory responsibility of combating the malaise of corruption within the Nigerian nation”, he posited.  Today, he is considered a self-made lawyer, who built his career based on the conviction that self integrity pays.  He was a poet, an author, a jurist, a thorough-bred scholar and an exemplary pacesetting administrator.

    All the legacies he built in Ilorin would for ever stand him out as a lover of humanity; a colossus among his peers and contemporaries.  Justice Akanbi’s lifestyle will for ever inspire those who encountered him one-on-one because of the fatherly love and concern he exhibited.  Members of ANA have expressed their deepest sorrows at the loss of one of their greatest pillars; someone who provided succour and accommodation whenever they called on him to do so.

     

     

  • ICPC chief accuses lawyers of glorifying corruption

    Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Acting Chairman Dr. Musa Usman Abubakar have accused lawyers of glorifying corruption rather than joining the fight against it.

    He said some lawyers serve as mouthpieces to those accused of corruption contrary to the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners.

    Abubakar said it was “disheartening” that such lawyers have become clogs in the wheel of justice.

    He backed calls for the establishment of a special anti-corruption court, but said it would not solve the problem of delays if lawyers do not change their attitude.

    The ICPC chief spoke at the Fifth Criminal Justice Reform Conference in Asaba, the Delta State capital. It was organized by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Criminal Justice Reform Committee chaired by Chief Arthur Obi Okafor (SAN).

    Abubakar said: “In as much as the ICPC subscribes to the establishment of special court, I make bold to say that there would hardly be any difference if the defense lawyers maintain their usual tactics of frustrating the smooth administration of justice.

    “I, therefore, urge that as ministers in the temple of justice, you champion this fight and be the vanguard of anti-corruption in Nigeria. You must avoid glorifying corruption but insist on ensuring that justice is done. We should strive to leave a good and lasting legacy for the coming generation.

    “This will require attitudinal change by strictly adhering to the relevant provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, notably Rules 14, 30 and 37, most especially Rule 30 which provides that a legal practitioner shall not conduct himself in any manner that may obstruct, delay or adversely affect the administration of justice.

    “Despite these clear provisions, it is disheartening how some lawyers derive pleasure in frustrating corruption cases by serving as the mouthpiece of their clients. We must, therefore, put public interest far about our client’s interest.”

    Abubakar believes special courts were necessary because delays in regular courts may be due to some factors beyond the control of the judicial officers hearing such cases.

    “The judges hearing corruption/economic crime cases are also saddled with the responsibility of hearing other cases, both civil and criminal. This jam-packs the courts’ case dockets and leads to delay.

    “The same judges who handle corruption/economic crime cases also sit on appeal on cases from the inferior courts, notably from magistrate’s courts and Customary Courts. During the period of appeal sessions, the courts normally adjourn other cases in order to concentrate on hearing appeals. Consequently, even corruption/economic crime cases are also adjourned, which invariably leads to delay.

    “The same judges are assigned national assignment such as hearing election petitions, in which they are posted far away from their various jurisdictions. Cases are usually kept in abeyance pending the conclusion of election petition cases; hence, the delay.

    “Recording proceedings in long hand slows down trial process too,” Abubakar said.

    According to him, a recent research by ICPC revealed that delays were caused by assigning too many cases to one judge, with 83 per cent of respondents endorsing the creation of specialised courts to handle only corruption cases.

    He said ICPC believes that creating a special court would help achieve the objectives of Section 396(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 which provides for day-to-day trial, among others.

  • Labour petitions Icpc, accuses NCC boss of fraud

    The Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC) branch of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing NCC Director- General (DG) Afam Ezekude of fraud, misappropriation and abuse of office.

    In a petition dated March 5, 2018, which was received at the commission on March 7,  the union accused Ezekude of allegedly using two fictitious firms to siphon about N115 million from the agency, and also illegally withdrawing about N16 million from the staff pension fund.

    The staff members,who shut down the headquarters of the agency at the federal secretariat, Abuja on Monday, also alleged in a statement  to The Nation that the DG embezzled about N390 million meant for various operations of the agency between 2012 and 2013, which were never carried out.

    At the time of filing this report, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment were making efforts to prevent the picketing of the agency as the union threatened that other offices of the commission in Kaduna, Lagos and Makurdi would be shut.

    The union members refused to attend a meeting called by the ministry when they were informed that the DG would not attend as he was out of the FCT.

    They also accused him of illegally acquiring two letters from two different government officials renewing his four-year tenure when it expired, wondering how one person could get two appointment letters for the same position from two different offices.

    They told the commission that the DG “illegally conspired with some government officials in the Federal Ministry of Justice and office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to secure for himself two separate letters of tenure renewal dated July 8, 2014 and April 24, 2015.”

    The two letters renewing his tenure for another four-year term, copies of which were made available to The Nation were signed on July 8, 2014, five months to the expiration of his tenure by the then Solicitor-General of the Federation, Abdullahi Yola and on April 24, 2015, four months after the expiration of the tenure by the Secretary to the then Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim and copied to the Chief of Staff to the President.

    When contacted on phone,  Ezekude dismissed the allegations, saying that he had already been given a clean bill of health by the ICPC, who has already issued him a letter clearing him.

    He said: “Investigations have been conducted on all those allegations by the ICPC and the ICPC has actually written to me clearing me of all the allegations. This was about two years ago or a year and half ago. I was cleared of all the allegations without exception. That is the position and I have a written clearance from the ICPC. If they have cleared me, I wonder what they will be investigating.

    “It is not as if they cleared me verbally. It was in writing. It makes you wonder why the pull him Down syndrome. You may want to find out from the ICPC if whether what I am saying is the truth because they will have it on their record. Those allegations were found to be unfounded, unsubstantiated and false and so, they cleared me of all of them.”

  • ICPC tasks professional bodies on enforcement of codes

    ICPC tasks professional bodies on enforcement of codes

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has urged Business Management Organisations (BMOs) and Professional Associations (PAs) to ensure effective enforcement of their codes of ethics.

    The Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr Abdullahi Bako, made the call at a one-day colloquium organised by the anti-graft agency for BMOs and PAs in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Bako said business management organisations and professional bodies had a critical role to play in the fight against corruption, especially in the area of prevention.

    “The essence of this colloquium is to identify areas in which ICPC can collaborate with BMOs and PAs towards ensuring that their activities are conducted with utmost sense of integrity and high ethical standards tailored at preventing corruption in the system.

    “Once that is done, corruption practices such as bribery and gratification, cutting corners, quackery and other infractions in the operations of professional associations will reduce drastically,” he said.

    Bako said the commission had embarked on similar interventions in critical sectors such as education, health, transport and water resources.

    He said the exercise paid off with the closure of 63 illegal degree-awarding institutions and a fake NYSC orientation camp whose proprietors were currently being prosecuted.

    The Secretary of ICPC, represented by a commissioner, Mr Gad Bako, said the forum was in continuation of the commission’s efforts at securing public commitment to the fight against corruption.

    Read also: ICPC arrests former SMEDAN DG for alleged corruption in contract awards

    “Our partnership with BMOs and PAs like yours is borne out of our belief not only in your contributions to the development of this nation but also as being vital in the pursuit of professional excellence.

    “You are in a position to regulate the activities of your members and ensure that their conducts are in consonance with the ethics and values of their professional and in a manner that is devoid of corruption in all ramifications.

    “With the increase in the population and the rapid expansion in the membership strength you have witnessed over the years, quacks have infiltrated your ranks and adherence to these codes has become seriously compromised for obvious reasons.

    “Working in close collaboration with BMOs and PAS, we will not only block corruption-prone areas in the conduct of professional transactions but also highlight those punishable under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000,” he said.

    The ICPC secretary said the commission began its engagement with professional bodies in 2014 resulting in the infusion of integrity standards into their codes of professional practice.

    He listed the bodies to include the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, the Nigerian Union of Journalists, the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, and the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.

    According to him, the commission has also engaged 18 other BMOs and PAs since then in addition to organising a validation and adoption exercise of the integrity infusions made by ICPC into their codes of the practice.

    Bako said the colloquium was a follow-up on the validation done and its positive impact on their activities so far.

    He said that the commission would continue to support the BMOs and PAs toward strengthening their codes of professional practice.

    NAN

  • EFCC to Nigerians: Offer confidential information on financial crimes

    EFCC to Nigerians: Offer confidential information on financial crimes

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ) has urged Nigerians to give confidential information on financial crimes and misappropriation going on in their areas.

    Mr Johnson Babalola, the Zonal Head of EFCC in South-East, made the plea at the EFCC and Stakeholders’ Walk Against Corruption in Enugu on Monday.

    The Enugu 12-kilometre citywide walk tagged; “Together Break the Corruption Chain’’, was to commemorate the World Anti-Corruption Day.

    December 9 was the World Anti-Corruption Day.

    Babalola, represented by his deputy, Mr Johnson Oshodi, said that the fight against corruption was an all-involving fight, where the commission needed the assistance of other stakeholders and members of the public.

    “We want Nigerians to blow the whistle through feeding the commission with timely and prompt information to nip corruption in the bud and punish its perpetrators anywhere in the country,’’ he said.

    Read also: Anti-corruption: U.S. pledges support for Nigeria,EFCC

    He described corruption as a global phenomenon, adding that its impact and endemic nature had been far-reaching in the country.

    He said that corruption had been crippling the nation’s economy and development.

    “The worst is that it is already stealing what should be left for our future, our children and our children-children and making many young Nigerians to lose hope in the economic system.

    “Every right-thinking Nigerian must stand up and join hands actively with the commission to check this monster and cankerworm,’’ he said.

    In his speech, the EFCC Head of Media, Mr Chris Oluka, lauded the massive turnout of people for the walk, especially corporate organisations that had been identifying with the commission and making its investigative work easy.

    “We are overwhelmed by this show of solidarity, especially the organisations that had been partnering with us in this fight before now,’’ he said.

    Also, Mr Hassan Mohammed, the Zonal Commissioner, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), assured the commission of ICPC’s continuous close working relationship and synergy in information sharing.

    “We will remain committed to the bond between our organisation and EFCC, and we will work together in more aspects of fighting corruption in the country,’’ Mohammed said.

    The Sector Commander of FRSC in Enugu State, Mr Edward Zamber, said that the agency would check all forms of corruption, especially on the highways.

    “In a bid to keep Nigerians safe on the roads, FRSC will ensure exemplary conduct always and shun all forms of inducement in the course of our duty,’’ Zamber, who was represented by Mr Hassan Lawal, said.

    The representative of Diamond Bank Plc, Mr Felix Ezimora, said that the bank would continue to follow the commission’s guidelines in its banking operations.

    “Diamond Bank is known for transparency and excellence; we assure you that we will keep to our good working relationship as well as openness to the commission,’’ Ezimora said.

    NAN

  • ICPC rallies pupils against corruption

    ICPC rallies pupils against corruption

    Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC), Mr. Bako Abdullahi, has advised Akwa Ibom students to join anti-corruption clubs in their schools and become part of crusades against the monster.

    Abdullahi, who was represented by Akwa Ibom zonal officer Ibrahim Alkali, gave the advice in his welcome remarks during the inauguration of Anti-Corruption Clubs for public secondary schools in Ikot Ekpene senatorial district held at State College, Ikot Ekpene.

    He said the club was in recognition of the important role youths could play in the war against endemic corruption.

    He said: “The ICPC recognises you as a major stakeholder in the war against endemic corruption. As youths, you are endowed with the ability to make people accept new social standards and influence the general public to accept them.

    “If young men and women like you shun corrupt behaviours and mobilise others to do same, the nation will be better for it as it will go a long way towards the enthronement and institutionalisation of integrity, transparency, accountability, and sound moral values in our country.

    “As leaders of tomorrow, make a personal declaration today to shun corruption as your own contribution to the survival of this country.

    “Total elimination of corruption in a society may be difficult to achieve, yet it is possible to build or evolve a society where the level of corruption would be very, very minimal”

    Delivering a paper on: ‘The imperative of anti-corruption clubs in schools’, zonal commissioner, Southsouth, Mr. Henry Emore who was represented by Hassan Gadu, noted that corrupt practices in Nigerian schools these days have reached embarrassing heights, hence the need to form the club in schools.

    “Vices such as examination malpractices, sometimes aided and abetted by parents, cultism, sexual abuse, extortion, assault, on teachers by students, parents and on students by teachers have become the order of the day.

    “This phenomenon is, to say the least, a threat to the effectiveness of the fight against corruption because such bad products of the education system pollute society rather than refine it.

    “Anti-corruption clubs in schools can check these corrupt practices by both students and teachers. By the time the club is able to keep proper watch of developments in its environment and instantly report corrupt practices to school’s authorities or the ICPC, the club would have achieved part of its aims and objectives.

    “A corrupt society holds no future for its youths as there will be no sound education and no gainful employment. It is therefore, incumbent on the youths to fight corruption to a standstill in order to make sure that the leaders of today do not bequeath to them a bleak future.

    He urged members of the club to always report corrupt practices to their school authorities, adding that students should feel free to approach the commission as quickly as possible where the school authorities fail to take appropriate action.

    “On its own part, the commission assures members of the club of adequate protection against possible victimisation by teachers, school management or fellow students”, he added.

    In his goodwill message the state Commissioner for Education Prof Victor Inoka who was represented by Director Educational Development Services (EDS) Mr. Idongesit Etuk, said the government through the ministry of education gave approval for the establishment of the anti-corruption clubs to select secondary schools, adding that it hopes to extend same to all secondary schools across the state in the near future.

    “My advice to all students, teachers, principals and indeed all schools is for you to ensure that these clubs we are inaugurating today should not be allowed to go into extinction in our schools, but should rather grow and create the expected impact in our schools and society.

     

  • Senator Tinubu Seeks true federalism

    Senator Tinubu Seeks true federalism

    Senator Oluremi Tinubu representing Lagos Central Senatorial District has called for an amendment of the constitution to make Nigeria a true federal state.

    She said while the nation’s laws and constitution expressly declare that Nigeria is a federal state, the practical application of most of the laws effectively makes Nigeria more or less a unitary state.

    Speaking on the theme: “Governance and National Development: Issues and Implications” at the University of Lagos 12th Annual Research Conference and Fair on Tuesday in Lagos, Senator Tinubu defended the current clamour for true federalism in some quarters.

    She said the different ethnic tribes were independent and relatively politically-sophisticated before the advent of the colonialists.

    She lamented that the incursion of the military into politics in 1966 upended the near-perfect fiscal arrangements agreed to by the founding fathers at independence in 1960 and that subsequent constitutions have tended to perpetuate this anomaly.

    “For a country as diverse and large as Nigeria, only the practice of true and fiscal federalism can engender equitable development of the constituent units and make effective governance easy,” she said.

    The Senator recommended that the power over some of the items listed in the Concurrent Legislative List in Part II of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) like prisons, antiquities and monuments, archives and public records, university and technology as well as some of the items in the Exclusive List should be exclusively vested in the states of the federation.

    According to her, this will bring development closer to the people and ensure that policies formulated for the execution of these functions are those that are informed by the local conditions of the people.

    Tinubu charged governments at all levels to endeavour to work in the interest of the people, saying all government’s policies must ultimately be judged by whether they deliver on the promise of the government to the people under the ‘Social Contract’.

    In attendance at the conference were the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Rahamon Bello, the Registrar of the university, Dr. (Mrs) Taiwo Folashade Ipaye, and Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, among others.