MDAs To Join Fight Against Corruption In Cross River

This was disclosed Tuesday in Calabar  by  Godwin Akwaji, the Vice Chairman and CEO of the state Economic Finance and Intelligence Commission during the Cross River State Anti-Corruption Summit held in collaboration with Independent Corrupt Practices   and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

At the summit, which has as theme: ‘Institutionalization of Good Governance For Sustainable Development’, Akwaji told journalists on the sidelines of the summit  that MDAs (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) would spearhead the campaign against corruption at the grassroots.

“Every day when they hear radio jingles on anti-corruption war, they will become part of the fight. Corruption starts from somewhere. The process to kick-start the campaign is on. The template is ready and we are reviewing it. At the end of the review, we are going to do a launch of this transparency initiative.

“We are going to seek the collaboration of ICPC to help the state in the training and possible recruitment to ensure we have this unit in all the MDAs,” he said.

In his remarks, the ICPC Chairman Barrister Ekpo Nta, defined corruption as “an abuse of public office for private gain,” adding that “if we don’t take action, a time will come when the worst of society will become our leaders.”

He said ICPC is more interested in preventing corruption than arresting and prosecuting people, which is a more expensive option.

He said women have been passive about the fight against corruption and urged them to be more involved in the fight by advising their husbands to shun corruption.

Prof Sola Akinrinade, Provost, Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, said the past two years had witnessed a vigorous war against corruption, adding that there could only be good governance if all the citizens joined in the fight.

He said the academy would work with the Cross River State government to train officials on transparency and accountability.

The State Acting Chief Judge, Justice Michael Edem, said “we have not addressed our minds to frontally tackle corruption,” and pledged the judiciary’s support for the fight against corruption.

Mrs. Florence Osa, the representative of Garba Abari, the Director-General of National Orientation Agency,  said: “We need to bring up our children in a way that they will imbibe our core values.”