Written by FRIDAY OLOKOR
The acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, on Friday in Abuja dismissed criticisms that the commission had become a toothless bulldog, saying his pedigree would speak for him.
He said critics who had been insinuating that the ICPC had become weak and could not ‘bite’ like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would soon know the truth about his profile as an anti-graft czar.
Nta told journalists after his inaugural meeting with the employees of the commission that corruption was “the biggest industry in Nigeria.”
He was reacting to questions about the innovations he hoped to inject into the anti-corruption war in Nigeria.
He said there was a strong need to put a check on cases of corruption, which, he claimed had probably become the biggest industry in the country.
Nta was appointed the ICPC acting chairman by President Goodluck Jonathan on November 29 after Mr. Francis Elechi, whose nomination was confirmed by the Senate as the commission’s chairman, was suspended because of alleged security reports against him.
He said, “I am going to be difficult to predict; the pedigree aspect of me will be defined in the next few weeks but I must sound this to all staff that it is not going to be business as usual.
“What this implies is that people should not take things for granted and say because they are my bosom friends they can do things contrary to the desired expectations.”
The ICPC boss advocated a synergy in dealing with issues of corruption in the country, adding that the nation’s population, which had been unofficially put at 167 million, required as many agencies as possible to effectively tackle corruption.
While reiterating that the commission would explore legal means in tackling corruption despite some logistic constraints, Nta pledged to partner with the media and civil society organisations in his assignment.
He said, “Let us put it in this other way that corruption is probably the biggest industry in Nigeria today because money is being lost. With the level of population growth today, we need as many bodies as possible to tackle corruption.”
He said instead of merging the agency with other anti-corruption bodies such as the EFCC, Nigeria needed more in line with global trends.
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