Organization Launches 2022 Award to Recognize Accountability Icons Across the Country

Accountability Lab Nigeria, a civil society organization, has launched the Integrity Icons Award 2022 to honor five individuals for their commitment to good governance and performance of their duties.

The winners of the search this year are, Enuma Charles, Victoria Bende Barnabas, SP Innocent Ayabotu, and Mwalin Naomi Abdu Babayola Mohammed Isa.

Through the help of engaged citizens, ethical leaders, and accountable institutions, Accountability Lab Nigeria aims to make governance work for people.

Odeh Friday, the group’s Country Director, revealed during the ceremony that more than 1,700 nominations had been submitted, and that a panel of impartial specialists was going to review them in order to determine the top 5.

A lack of integrity, which breeds corruption, inequality, and insecurity, is still a major problem that threatens to destabilize the world, according to Friday.

He raised concern over the lack of emphasis on accountability among the political hopefuls.

“If you look at the political candidates, none has put accountability at the forefront of their campaign and it is a big problem for us.

“Because it seems like we are having the same cycle of lack of accountability in our community. But how do we get to the process to ensure that we put people of accountability in the right place?

“The top five we selected are doing fantastic and amazing things. We have seen the director general of the procurement agency who has moved the revenue of the agency from about N400,000 to N1.2 billion.

“Those are the kind of inspirational stories that curb corrupt practices that happen in those kinds of sectors like contracting.

“When you begin to find people who like doing the right thing, we can save more money, we can manage more and ensure that quality service is delivered to citizens,” he said.

He questioned why politicians would spend more on campaigns than the N5 billion limit set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Campaign funds have been tagged by INEC as N5 billion but you find out that people are doing donations and spending above N5 billion.

“For me, the thing is who is going to build strong institutions that can stand and deliver on their mandate and carry out the course in which they were established.

“If INEC can stand strong we will not have political parties spending above N5 billion. The new Electoral Act provides for every political party to produce a report of their campaign spending after election.

“I think only two political parties were able to do that in 2019. In the 2023 elections, we are not even seeing any of the political parties doing so, which is basically a big problem,” he said.

A former Statistician General, Yemi Kale, remembered how he defended his data on poverty, health, and the economy even though they were unfavorable to the ruling party.

In addition, he urged people to act honorably in all of their interactions for the benefit of the nation, regardless of whether they were rewarded for it or not.