The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has inaugurated a 12-member Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) in the Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS) in furtherance of its sustained drive towards ensuring transparency in public governance in the country.
The ACTU, which was inaugurated at the revenue agency’s headquarters – Revenue House – in Abuja, was saddled with the responsibility of enforcing the zero-tolerance policy to combat any form of unethical practices in the agency.
The Chairman of the FIRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, who was represented at the launch of the Unit by his Chief of Staff, Tayo Koleosho, harped on the critical role of the ACTU in upholding the revenue agency’s operational values.
Adedeji charged the ACTU members to lead by example given the criticality of integrity in their assignments as the general public and FIRS’ employees will not expect less from them in the discharge of their responsibilities.
He clarified: “The easy part of being a member of the FIRS anti-corruption unit has just been done and the real work starts now.”
Speaking at the event, the agency’s Coordinating Director, Support Services Group, Mohammed Abubakar, promised the management’s continued support for the Unit and urged the members to adopt honesty and integrity in discharging their responsibilities, thereby setting a standards for others to emulate.
In his remarks, the anti-graft agency’s chairman, Dr. Musa Aliyu, restated the commission’s determination to achieve its mandate and assured support for the ACTU.
Represented at the event by the ICPC Director of System Study and Review, Mr. Olusegun Adigun, the chairman highlighted the ACTU’s mandate as including sensitization of FIRS’ staff on corruption, examination of systems that are vulnerable to malpractices, development and enforcement of ethical codes, monitoring of budget implementation, and initiation of preliminary investigations into lodged complaints.
Aliyu further expatiated: “The ACTU is not set up as a parallel authority to management but rather to collaborate in building a reputable agency.”.
In her post-inauguration remarks, Director of the ACTU, Hajia Sa’adatu Yero, commended the FIRS chairman’s determination to enhance the Unit’s capacity, adding that the Unit’s collaboration with agencies such as the ICPC, Nigerian Police, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has helped in mitigating corruption tendencies in the revenue agency.
According to her, the FIRS’ ACTU scored 79.95 percent in the recently released 2022 Ethics and Integrity Scorecard survey, ranking it among the top corruption-averse MDAs in the country.
