ICPC Scores BPE High on Ethics, Integrity

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has rated the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) the second highest ranking agency with a score of 89.6 per cent out of 360 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government assessed in the 2021 Ethics and Integrity Compliance Card (EICS).

The anti-graft agency rated the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) tops with 89.8 per cent in the rating, followed by the BPE with 89.6 per cent.

The aim of the EICS deployment in MDAs is to diminish corruption risks, system abuse, revive ethics and integrity benchmark with the view of revitalizing service delivery.

The tool was deployed between May and August 2021 in 360 MDAs. 301 MDAs responded to the assessment, while 59 MDAs declined.

Participants were rated according to their levels and degrees of compliance. Unresponsive MDAs were classified as ‘High Corruption Risk Agencies (HCRAs)’ and are envisaged for further inquiries and actions by the Commission.

Reacting to the ICPC rating, the Head, Public Communications of the BPE, Ibeh Uzoma Chidi, stated that the BPE as a reform agency, was also in 2019, recognised by the SERVICOM Corporate Office with the award of a four star (****) ranking following SERVICOM’s Functionality Evaluation conducted in November that year.

In a statement, he noted that the deployment of the scorecard by the ICPC was vital to building good ethical structures in all institutions in the country.

He stated: “Organisations are encouraged to replicate the tool in their workplace and adopt ethics and integrity compliance practices into their systems to diminish corruption while also inculcating the values and principles of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy (NEIP).”

According to him, the EICS rating, which began in 2019, is deployed by the ICPC annually in federal MDAs to assess their compliance with extant ethical, integrity, statutory, policy and regulatory standards and practices which are in consonance with its preventive mandate as provided in Section 6 (b)-(d) of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000.

It also reinforces the drive to strengthen probity, accountability and transparency in public service and entities.