The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have pledged to deepen collaboration in the fight against corruption in the country.
The two anti-graft agencies made the pledge on Tuesday in Abuja, at a high-level meeting initiated by the Chairman of ICPC, Dr Musa Aliyu.
The meeting, which had in attendance the chairmen and management staff of the two anti-graft agencies, was aimed at strengthening efforts for greater impact in Nigeria’s anti-corruption drive.
The ICPC chairman said that the meeting was also to discuss other areas of collaboration and deepen existing relationship between the two agencies.
He expressed the readiness of the ICPC to provide the needed support and cooperation in eradicating corruption in Nigeria.
Aliyu said that ICPC under his leadership was steadfast in its resolve to fight corruption through enhanced inter-agency collaboration.
“It is important for us to work together, and we cannot do this without a good relationship.
“That’s why I think I need to extend this hand of friendship to the EFCC so that we can effectively partner in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
“I am aware that there’s a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the EFCC and ICPC and I’m willing and ready to partner whenever there’s any issue of interest in the fight against corruption.
“I will be reaching out to my brother and Chairman of EFCC on issues I think we can partner because there’s no need for us to be duplicating responsibilities, wasting resources and time.
“I hope with this first meeting, we are going to be meeting regularly to review what we are doing together,” Aliyu added.
On his part, the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr Ola Olukoyede, agreed with the position of ICPC boss on collaboration, saying the meeting had also presented an opportunity for the review of the existing MoU between the two agencies.
“We have areas of similar mandates and with the population of about 250 million people, there’s so much in our hands and I can tell you that the enormity of the work demands that we work together,” he said.
The EFCC boss also said that the political will of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fight corruption, as demonstrated in recent events, were enough boost for anti-corruption agencies to give their best.
“We believe that with the kind of President that we have, who is willing and ready to do the right thing as demonstrated in the last 48 hours.
“It is clear that the President is providing the political will and the leadership for the anti-corruption agencies to work and I believe that with this, there’s no hiding place for us and we must ensure that we give our best.
“We are going to give the President the right support and we believe that the courage would be there to take the right decisions.
“Nobody is too big to be investigated in this country. Once you are not playing to the rules, we’ll investigate you,” he said. (NAN)
By Isaac Aregbesola
