BPE emerges top on ethics, integrity

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has emerged as 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 in the 2021 Ethics and Integrity Compliance Card (EICS) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

In a recent release by the anti-graft agency, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) came first with 89.8 per cent in the rating.

The EICS rating which began in 2019 is deployed by the ICPC yearly in the MDAs to assess their compliance with extant ethical, integrity, statutory, policy and regulatory standards and practices which is 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.

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.

Mr Ibeh, Uzoma Chidi, Head, Public Communications of the BPE said in a statement that the tool was deployed between May and August 2021 in 360 MDAs; 301 MDAs responded to the assessment and 59 MDAs declined.

He stated that participants were rated according to their levels and degrees of compliance, and unresponsive MDAs were classified as “High Corruption Risk Agencies” (HCRAs) and are envisaged for further inquiries and actions by the Commission.

The deployment of the Scorecard, he stressed is vital to building good ethical structures in all institutions in the country, as 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).

“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,” Mr Ibeh added.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…Ambitious appointed public officials  Ambitious appointed public officials

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…Ambitious appointed public officials  Ambitious appointed public officials