• AGE FALSIFICATION AMONG PUBLIC SERVANTS OVER
The State Commissioner for Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), South-East Headquarters, Enugu, Barr. Amidu Sule on Tuesday, 16th July 2019, at a workshop held at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, disclosed to the teeming public servants of the university that the era of age falsification of federal workers is over. He noted that this becomes possible by the introduction of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which ensures that once the duration of a worker from first point of entry expires, his/her salary is stopped forthwith by the computerized system.


Receiving ICPC delegation led by Barr. Aminu Sule in VC’s Conference Room, Prof. Chinedum Nwajiuba, Vice- Chancellor, AE- FUNAI thanked the delegation for coming to enlighten the university community on the fight against corruption as championed by the commission. “We are glad to have you, it is good you have come to enlighten our people”, he said.
Delivering his lecture on the Role of Public Servants in the Fight against Corruption at the university main auditorium, venue of the workshop, Barrister Amidu noted that ICPC was established to specifically deal with corruption act and other related offences. He maintained that the commission had three mandates to drive and that the effort to realize the third mandate which centers on sensitization and public enlightenment necessitated the workshop at AE-FUNAI. According to the Commissioner, ICPC does not wait for corruption to be committed before arrest is made.


He took time to explain various offences that constitute bribery acts punishable by law, to include sex-for-mark, giving and receiving bribes and assisting contractors to win contracts with the aim to receiving kickbacks among others. He stated that anyone who witnessed act of bribery and fails to report such act shall be punished according to dictates of the law. The punishment according to him is five years jail term while the offender bags two years imprisonment and where the report is false, the reporter gets 10 years imprisonment. Amidu therefore charged public servants to desist from acts that would influence their decisions in the discharge of their duties with the reason to augment their poor salaries, counseling that such public servants should rather take to farming. “Don’t, confer promotion to hardworking staff based on friendship or familiarity and don’t report anyone based on personal vendetta. Let your information be guided by truth always”, he advised.
Mr. Suleiman Achile, Head, Public Enlightenment/Education and the Commission’s PRO, while making his presentation stated that ICPC has simplified their activities and made it open and closer to Nigerians through establishment of Anti Corruption Transparency Unit (ACTU), where seven (7) members of honest reports are required to join their fight from AE-FUNAI and will report genuine offences to the commission. He also noted that another window to becoming a life member of the commission is available to everybody by joining National Anti-Corruption Volunteer Corp (NAVC). He warned that membership is not a condition to manhunt anyone and there is no monetary attachment to membership of both.