The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission, ICPC, Nta Ekpo as of late addressed PREMIUM TIMES‘ Musikilu Mojeed, Festus Owete and Idris Ibrahim, on the exercises of the commission. He clarifies what the commission is doing with around 32 petitions against previous state governors, what it will do with request of against President Muhammadu Buhari and different issues. Extracts:
PT: We are amazed to discover you here. There was a daily paper report that you were terminated. Things being what they are, what was the deal?
Ekpo: First, let me, on a lighter note, express that my name is Ekpo, which in my dialect is soul. The individuals who devised the story most likely were contemplating the disguise that you can fire. It’s all piece of the debasement battling back. In actuality, they utilize distinctive strategies, in the event that they attempt one (and) it is not working, they attempt diverse ways. In any case, the results for the nation is huge in light of the fact that these are things that are flowed globally, on the web. A great deal more genuine nations envious of working with Nigeria keep a tab on what is occurring in our nation and when they see such data, they will undoubtedly be frightened. What’s more, to be sure, a significant number of nation were frightened and made calls and they found it was each of the a scam. That likewise conveys to play whether they ought to trust the data leaving Nigeria. So whatever gathering is doing what they think they are doing was not taking a gander at the master plan and after that the broad communications that let themselves to be utilized must have at this point learnt the colossal cost to themselves, the harm they got as far as validity as far as the reports turning out from their stable. So you should twofold check these things. Yes, everyone needs to pitch their daily papers and needs to snatch media consideration, however you should not do as such to the detriment of the picture of your nation and the people you are attempting to pull down. I would not like to go to court.
PT: But would you say you are anyplace close to the finish of your residency?
Ekpo: My residency really began in 2012 after I was confirmed by the president for a five-year term. So it’s something that is anything but difficult to compute. The general population who did that were absolutely insidious or insensible or both. Be that as it may, it filled a helpful need the extent that I was concern. It additionally got to a point that individuals were composing a ton of things and we demand in ICPC of checking sources. It has demonstrated that we’ve generally been in good shape. We demand that you don’t take snare, line and sinker whatever we find in the web-based social networking and that we should check. That additionally coordinates the way we work in accordance with our Act that we don’t uncover examinations that are going ahead in ICPC until it is in court.
PT: Did you presume anyone or individuals who may be in charge of it since you said it was defilement battling back?
Ekpo: Yes, it was. Regularly, we keep records of petitions this way and while deluding stories like this turn out and it has a tendency to agree with when we are doing significant examinations about politically-uncovered people. Every so often they have inside people who have their own grievances with respect to what they saw to be their rights or that they were taught. Indeed, at that period before the individuals from the Board individuals left toward the finish of their residency, we had restrained a significant number of faculty of this commission for demonstration of indiscipline and some really had their arrangements ended. In this way, in the event that you know you are making the best decision, don’t simply get circumscribed by any means. What’s more, personality you, there is nothing you will discuss CEOs of associations like us that won’t be examined by other important organizations.
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PT: At the time the president was caught up with changing heads of organizations, was it mulled over at the largest amount that you ought to likewise be evacuated. Or, on the other hand would it say it was that perhaps they later altered their opinions?
Ekpo: Government doesn’t work that way. Government is an extremely capable creation and each kind of office in this country, is managed by statute or naturally. You can’t, for instance, wake up and say ‘I don’t care for the substance of the legislative leader of X state as how about we compose an appeal to that his residency is over.’ It is a sacred procedure and it is obviously spelt out. So it didn’t just occurred here. We considered it to be a general pattern thus we have examined such pattern. We rebate such things when we are doing our examinations and a couple of these procedures have… .when you now welcome the candidates to come and state obviously what you mean by then you won’t discover anyone.
PT: Now your residency is reaching an end this year. You’ve been here for right around five years now, how has it been so far battling defilement in Nigeria?
Ekpo: First and chief, on the off chance that you have to battle defilement in Nigeria, you require a vehicle that you will use to battle debasement. Thus the main thing I did with my Board was to take a gander at the condition of the vehicle. Could it take us to where we are going to? We did an exhaustive examination of the vehicle, did a guide (and) we know where we need to end our battle. Thus between where we are today and where we ought to get to we outlined a Strategic Action Plan 2013-2017. It was a five-year improvement arrange. We put in concentrate precisely what we needed to do and after that we take a gander at what are, the necessities regarding faculty, materials, subsidizing, then stocked taking, where is Nigeria today as far as defilement and we turned out with our Strategic Action Plan. We did it in two ways first. We had in-house examination by the Board and afterward we additionally asked the DFID, which is an organ of the United Kingdom, to do a comparable thing for us. We take a gander at the two reports and they essentially counted and we got the two together and went into a withdraw to prepare everyone in the matter of what the objectives were and what the objectives were. I am glad to express that the principal thing we understood was that we expected to take a shot at the vehicle itself. We expected to take a shot at ICPC itself. There was an emergency of personality which we needed to determine. Is it true that it was truly a common administration structure or law implementation body? Furthermore, the Act was certain that it should be a law requirement organization. So we needed to do enormous re-preparing and to get the general population to comprehend what they should do. And afterward the starting points of the commission was that all the investigative offices had been going by police staff approved from the Nigeria Police Force. We had officers from the DSS, Immigration and other sister organizations who came to help start up the place. They accompanied the ethos and the operational procedures of their own bodies. In this way, first thing I did was to plan a completely hostile to debasement prepare that counts with what is there globally with other against defilement offices. Thus we did enormous preparing of our staff globally in 2012. I think I accomplished more preparing in 2012 globally than the initial 11 years of this present commission’s presence. We sent our kin to the best against defilement institutes wherever on the planet and they returned. We refashioned our reasoning procedure. What’s more, I got every one of the workplaces and divisions headed by indigenous ICPC prepared staff. Furthermore, from 2012 I am cheerful to state that the head of examination of ICPC is an ICPC staff, no more police. In this way, we began prevailing over our own procedures which has truly paid off. Regardless we keep on doing our joint effort in preparing our staff locally with the Nigerian insight organizations, the SSS school, the police institutes and so forth. In any case, we have composed our own procedures and that now gave me the prospect of congruity on the most proficient method to I maintain these sort of preparing. This is on the grounds that it will cost a great deal of cash sending individuals out. I now take a gander at the likelihood of beginning off a hostile to debasement institute. It was there before all else however not really used the way I thought about it. Along these lines, I had the Board’s endorsement. We kick-began what we conceived to be a universal institute, same standard that you will meet anyplace on the planet. We began drawing up operational rules for various divisions and after that we took a gander at mechanizing every one of the procedures in the commission, especially document administration. What I came in here to see was that you won’t have the capacity to get a document from the request of registry if the appeal to enlist was not around, much the same as in the court framework, you can’t get a record. Furthermore, I said no, you can’t be held to payment like that. We began automating the place. I am cheerful to express that today, our appeal to registry positions among the best on the planet. We’ve examined each appeal to document from 2001 (origin of this commission) to date, electronic configuration. So regardless of the possibility that you take any of our request of records, I have the electronic arrangement there and that is the reason at one time when we had this breathtaking stories that the documents of 36 state governors were lost in our office, it was each of the a joke on the grounds that no such thing exist and it can’t occur here.
In this way, we’ve proceeded to mechanize HR forms on the grounds that in view of my experience researching benefits matters, the gigantic plundering of annuity assets was elevated by the man to man contact that was running the entire framework. It was not a motorized procedure, beginning from when you join your business. Give me a chance to streamline that. You come into ICPC and we take an electronic history of yourself, including your biometrics and the photo, unique mark, much the same as you are, and we continue refreshing your records, advancements, leave, number of youngsters and the rest until you resign. I should simply to sign an electronic duplicate of your whole history here to the benefits body and your annuity director. It is not the proper thing for those annuity administrators to come and start to ask me the retired person five years down the line or 10 years down the line “let me see your letter of first arrangement or let me see your advancement letter”. The man didn’t utilize himself; he was utilized by someone. Along these lines, it is that s
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