By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
An Abuja-based broadcast media organization, Signature TV, has called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe some staff of the National Examination Council (NECO) for engaging in examination scandals at a center in Kaduna State.
The call was made by the Chief Executive Officer of Signature TV, Mr. Vinmartin Obiora Ilo, during the unveiling of Corruption Tori Season Two in Abuja, recently.
Ilo in his remark at the event explained that in one of its investigative reportage, it uncovered how some NECO officials colluded with prospective candidates to undermine the integrity of their examination.
According to him, “The story, which was published by more than 25 media houses a day after it broke, led to the flagging up of the examination center in Kaduna by NECO and an investigative inquiry was set up by the NECO Board.”
The Signature TV CEO however, bemoaned that in spite of the fact that NECO had promised to send their findings to ICPC for further investigation, nothing has been heard of the case again so far. He, therefore, called on ICPC to wade into the case and bring anyone culpable to justice.
Speaking at the event on the topic, Corruption Fighting Back, ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, who was represented by an Assistant Director in the Commission, Mr. Hassan Salihu, said that it was only natural for those who benefit from the status quo to fight back any reform aimed at fighting corruption, stating that whenever ‘corruption is threatened, it fights back.’
The Chairman also noted that corruption was not only a threat to national security but a threat to the political and socio-economic development of the Nigerian nation.
Professor Owasanoye pointed out how Corruption Tori’s objective of causing attitudinal change among Nigerians aligned itself with the Commission’s National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP).
According to the ICPC boss, the NEIP, which was developed in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA), was approved by the Federal Executive Council on 19 August 2020 and launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on 28 September 2020 and seeks the return of Nigerians to values of old that made the country great.
The anti-corruption Czar further highlighted how the Commission was making significant inroads with its Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Initiative; System Study and Review, saying that the initiatives have forced contractors who had abandoned projects back to the site and also saved billions of naira for the government respectively.
Corruption Tori is an anti-corruption program supported by MacArthur Foundation and aired on the Network Services of the African Independent Television (AIT) and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). It is aimed at causing attitudinal change and making Nigerians demand accountability and transparency by holding leaders to account. NNL.
