Lack Of Implemetation, Enforcement Of Laws, Policies Impeding Fight Against Corruption — ICPC

The chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, on Tuesday said the lack of implemetation and enforcement of laws and policies have been an impediment to the fight against corruption in Nigeria.

He said there is the need to ensure effective enforcement of laws, capable of making act of corrupt practices impossible for public service officials and individials in the private sector.

Owasanoye made these disclosures in Ibadan at a one-day stakeholders zonal dialogue on the implementation of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP), South West edition.

The ICPC boss, who was represented by a board member of the commission, Mrs Olubukola Balogun, stated that “it is a fact that Nigeria is not lacking in laws and policies aimed at curbing corruption and indiscipline. Perhaps what is lacking is implementation and effective enforcement, based on well designed and implementable Standard Operational Procedure (SOP).”

According to him, “for government policies to succeed, they must be people-driven and not government-driven. This is the difference between NEIP and previous similar policies that have gone moribund and obsolete. The NEIP contains features such as consequence management and implemetation template beginning with stakeholders sensitisation dialogue.”

“This dialogue will take place across the country on zonal basis involving all segments of the society, especially the youth. The policy has specific objectives. It seeks to promote our societal core values of human dignity, voice and participation, patriotism, personal responsibility, integrity, among others,” Owasanoye remarked.

In his address at the occasion, the Iba of Kisi, Oba Masoud Aweda Oyekola Lawal, noted that the erosion of highly cherished ethical values on integrity and morals started the downward trends with each passing year of post-independence era.

“Frantic efforts to rescue the nation have not yielded desired results in the face of the rising spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, which are all evidence of a dysfunctional society caused by deviation from our national ethics,” the traditional ruler added.