Centre, ICPC Mull Partnership for Anti-Corruption War
By Abdulsalam Mahmud,
The Executive Director, Centre For Media, policy and Accountability, Dr. Suleiman A. Suleiman and his team on Friday paid a courtesy visit to Office of the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, where they discussed issues of mutual interest and possible areas of partnerships.
This is especially as it relates to strengthening democratic governance and advancing public policy through strategic anti-corruption efforts that positively improves Nigeria’s ranking on the Corruption perception index (CPI).
The Chairman in his remarks expressed his delight at the visit and said the commission has launched its national strategic plan which intends to achieve its implementation through public education, public engagement and ethical orientation with the help of established partnerships with Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Senior Editors of Nigerian dailies.
This is not to favor the commission in its reports and publications but to help tell the true success stories of the commission and consequently shape the negative narrative.
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The chairman also welcomed the Idea of a mutually beneficial partnership with the Centre that leads to improved capacity of its staff and consequently enhance the anti-corruption War. Being a former state attorney general, he understands the challenges and perceptions with which states look at anti-corruption agencies and how this perceptions affects their cooperation and consequently hinders smooth and timely investigation of corrupt practices especially among public office holders partly due to knowledge and perception gap.
Along with other stakeholders, he is working with the various offices at state and federal level to ensure synergy. The commission also plans to visit the 6 GEO zones to engage with top stakeholders. All of this engagements will help with the implementation of the national strategic plan.
Speaking earlier, Dr. Suleiman described CMPA as a think tank, with special focus on research, democratic governance, public policy engagement, capacity building, and knowledge production and sharing while promoting anti-corruption in various sectors of the society.
He also highlighted the fact that the ICPC and sister Anti-Corruption Agencies have grown in the ways it handles its operation over the years technologically and policy wise which has consequently yielded positive results not just in terms of arrests but also successful prosecutions. Speaking further he said these successes are not just under reported but also lacking in the right collaborations especially with the international organizations within Nigeria.
In other words there is a gap between efforts and reward. Dr. Suleiman went on to propose a capacity building partnership between the Center and the Commission which the Chairman was glad to accept.
