An official of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr Jimoh Sulaiman, has during a one day seminar organized for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) at Elomaz Hotel, Asaba charged Anti-corruption groups in Nigeria on the need for a concerted efforts to fight corruption in all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
According to him, in order for the war against corruption to gain grounds, the Commission established Anti-corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU), in the over 350 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government as a way of curbing the menace.
While noting that “the concept of corruption basically centres on benefits not legitimately obtained and often at the expense of and to the detriment of the people”, Sulaiman also hinted, “Corruption in the judiciary undermines and suspends the rule of law. Corruption in governance results in the unequal provision of services, it has always been part of humanity manifesting in various ways and at various levels of social interactions”.
The ICPC official who spoke on the topic: “The Role Of Citizens As Well As The ICPC In The Fight Against Corruption”, tasked Nigerians especially CSOs to rise up to their responsibilities in the various communities where they are based.
He identified lack of integrity, extreme greed, lack of transparency in transaction, excessive pressure on public office holders are some causes of corruption in the country.
He said the adverse effects of corruption are seen on decayed infrastructures, distort public expenditure as projects are executed at astronomical cost, stressing that communal values has been bastardized as honesty has become rare in both public and private sectors of the economy.
“Whatever we are doing, if we refuse to take care of corruption, we will go nowhere”, Sulaiman added.
On his part, the Delta State Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), J.I.B. Okoro, who spoke on “Your Rights and Responsibilities As A Nigerian”, charged lawyers to uphold transparency while calling on security operatives to avoid tapping into telephone lines of citizens.
He also educated the people on the need not to allow any officer who does not possess search warrants from gaining access into their houses, “Nobody should come to your house without a search warrant”.
According to Okoro, “the constitution provides for circularity which allows anybody to worship wherever he/she wishes. You should not be forced to worship outside your religion any part of the country; neither do you tell anybody to leave your place for any reason”.
While harping on the freedom of the press, he said, “by the freedom of the press, you are not expected to use the freedom to cause trouble”, he charged.
