The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has charged the Management and Staff of the National Examination Council (NECO), Katsina State to shun corruption in the discharge of their civic responsibilities.
The charge was made at a sensitization lecture delivered by Sani Tukur Tarauni who represented the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner of Katsina State, Mr. Mustapha Wala, on the theme “Fighting Corruption in MDAs; The ICPC Perspective”.
The lecture which focused on forms, causes, effects of corruption and ICPC’s anti-corruption strategies in Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), also dealt with the collective responsibility of citizens in fighting corruption in Nigeria.
Wala told the participants that their responsibility to the nation, in handling examination for the youths, was crucial as their actions may affect the future of Nigeria.
He therefore advised them to shun all appearances of corruption in the line of their work, especially examination malpractices.
On forfeiture, he emphasized the provisions of Section 20 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 which says, “Without prejudice to any sentence of imprisonment imposed under this Act, a public officer or other person found guilty of soliciting, offering or receiving gratification shall forfeit the gratification and pay a fine of not less than five times the sum of the value of the gratification which is the subject-matter of the offence where such gratification is capable of being valued or is of a pecuniary nature, or Ten Thousand Naira, whichever is higher”.
He also spoke on the need for Nigerians to imbibe the 7 core values of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy, stressing that there was an urgent need for values re-orientation among the citizenry.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Katsina State Coordinator of NECO, Mr. Ibrahim Umar commended the Commission in its efforts towards sensitizing, educating and fostering the support of government MDAs in the fight against corruption.
Mr. Umar also applauded the initiatives and recommendations of the ICPC in the war against corruption and gave the assurance of their continued support and collaboration to eradicate corruption in our respective capacities.
