Nigeria authorities - On TRACK against Corruption

Nigeria
Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related
Offences Commission
1. History
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission were
inaugurated on September 29th, 2000 by the Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, GCFR.
The commission is at the hub of Nigeria’s fight against corruption. The main duty of
the commission is to receive complaints, investigate and prosecute offenders. Other
duties include education and enlightenment of the public about and against bribery,
corruption and related offences. The commission also has the task of reviewing and
modifying the activities of public bodies, where such practices may aid corruption.
The pioneer Chairman and Members of the Commission are as follows:
Hon. Justice Muhammed Mustapha Adebayo Akanbi, CFR
Mr. Alphonso Olufunmilayo Fadaka, OON
Alhaji Shehu D. Haliru
Dr. Asikpo Essien-Ibok:
Prof. (Mrs) Uche Modum
Alhaji Muhammed Mahmud Maishanu
Dame Adeline Elemchi Uwanaka, KSM
Alhaji Zubairu Muhammed
Prof. Sayed Hamzah Malik
Mr. Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, MNITP, RTP, MNES, JP
Fr. Moses Oshio Adasu.
Ms. Hairat Ade Balogun
Mrs. Salome Jankada, JP
Peter Eyiamenkue Odili - former Secretary to the Commission
When President Olusegun Obasanjo, declared Corruption as Nigeria’s public enemy
Number One, he certainly hit the nail on the head. From a relatively mild
manifestation at the country's independence, corruption mushroomed at an alarming
rate through the Second Republic. During the several years of military misrule, it
became institutionalized and assaulted every facet of the country's political and
socio-economic fiber. It caused the distortion and diversion of government welfare

programs and undermined the goals of development.
The World Bank's Federal Public Expenditure Review published in 1995 claimed that
approximately US$ 200 billion was invested in Nigeria, between 1973 and 1993, with
very little development to show for it. Thus by the time the President assumed the
mantle of leadership in 1999, the country indeed had become deeply entrenched in a
deep morass of moral turpitude and economic privation.
That corruption has done incalculable damage to the Nigerian nation is stating the
obvious. Morally it has debased the time-honored ethical values of uprightness,
selfishness, contentment, industry; and enthroned duplicity, crass selfishness, avarice,
and indolence. Everyone, it appears, became seized by a frenzy to take the short cut to
achievement, from students to teachers; laborer to employment; congregation to
clergy. Politically, it provided an unfortunate excuse for the military incursion into the
arena of power which brought about years of agonizing assault on the collective
psyche of Nigerians. Economically, corruption rendered Nigeria a classic study in
paradox of grinding poverty in the midst of God-given abundance. The economy
became comatose as investors, both local and foreign, lost confidence in the system
and existing infrastructure went into severe rot. Massive brain drain resulted as
professionals trained with the country's resources, trooped abroad in their large
number to greener pastures benefiting other societies with Nigeria’s investments and
intellectual resources while the country groaned under a dearth of crucial expertise.
Before the present democratic dispensation, preceding administrations had
successively instituted legal instruments, measures and policies designed to combat
corruption in the country. Paradoxically, rather than achieve the desire results, there
were anomalies in the implementation of these remedial measures that engendered a
culture of impunity and rendered malaise more chronic. Thus to save Nigeria from
very imminent collapse, the President declared a total war on corruption. The first bill
he sent to the National Assembly was a bill to prohibit and punish corruption. That
bill was subsequently passed as the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act
2000 and was signed into law by the President on 13 th June 2000. The Act 2000 is the
enabling legal instrument of the Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related
Offences Commission (ICPC).
2. Structure
As provided for in Section 3(3) of the Act 2000, the Commission consists of a
Chairman and twelve (12) Members, two of whom represent each of the six
geo-political zones of the country. The membership is drawn from the following
categories of Nigerians as spelt out by the Act:
A retired Police Officer not below the rank of Commissioner of Police;

A legal practitioner with at least 10 years post-call experience;
A retired Judge of a superior court of record;
A retired Public Servant not below the rank of a Director;
A woman;
A youth not being less than 21 or more than 30 years of age at the time of his or her
appointment; and
A chartered accountant.
The Act provides that the Chairman and Members of the Commission, who shall be
persons of proven integrity, shall be appointed by the President upon confirmation by
the Senate and shall not begin to discharge their duties until they have declared their
assets and liabilities as prescribed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria. The tenure of office for the Chairman is five (5) years while that of the
Members is four (4) years in the first instance. The Act also provides for the position
of a Secretary to the Commission who is to be appointed by the President. The
Commission is granted the powers to appoint, deploy, discipline and determine the
conditions of service of its staff. Section 3 (14) of the Act enshrines the independence
of the Commission by providing that “the Commission shall in the discharge of its
functions under this Act, not be subject to the direction or control of any other person
or authority”.
Operational Structure:
Committee System:

The Chairman and 12 Members of the Commission constitute three (3) Committees
that oversee the execution of the enshrined functions of the Commission. There are
five (5) operational Departments, two Units and a special Team in the Commission
which takes charge of the three broad functional areas outlined above.
S/No Committee
1. Investigation and
Prosecution
2. Prevention and
Systems Study
3 Public
Enlightenment and
Education
Membership
• Hon Justice M. M. A. Akanbi
(CFR)-Chairman
• Alhaji Shehu Haliru- Member
• Dr Uriah Angulu - Member
• Senator Adejo Ogiri - Member
• Mr. A. O. Fadaka – Chairman
• Alh. Zubairu Mohammed - Member
• Prof. (Mrs) Uche Modum - Member
• Alh. Mohammed Maishanu - Member
• Dr. Asikpo Essien Ibok - Chairman
• Alhaji A. R. K. Saba - Member
• Ms Adeline Uwanaka – Member
• Mr Gabriel T. Aduda – Member
• Prof Sayeed Malik – Member
They are:
Investigation; Prosecution; Planning, Research and Review; Education and Public
Enlightenment departments;
Chairman's Special Unit, Special Duties Unit and
Fast Track Team.
The Chairman's Special Unit, set up to expedite enforcement matters among other
assignments, reports directly to the Chairman. It reviews and advises on petitions and
files charges in courts. The Fast Track Team comprises crack investigators and
prosecutors and members also report directly to the Chairman. In addition to the
above, there is an Internal Audit Unit, which also reports directly to the Chairman.
Administrative Structure

The Chairman has powers to control, supervise, and give general direction for the
efficient and effective functioning of the Commission. In that regard, he issues
“Standing Orders” as provided by Section 7(1) of the ICPC Act. The Act also
provides that the Secretary to the Commission under the general direction of the
Chairman, is responsible for keeping the records of the Commission and the general
day-to-day administration and control of the staff. To facilitate execution of this
function, there are two (2) support service departments, namely: Administration;
Finance and Accounts. The rest of the report is an analysis of the various activities
undertaken by the Commission from October 2000 to July 2005 separated into five
yearly cycles.
3. Function
The Commission was inaugurated on 29 th September 2000. Its duties as delineated
in Section 6 (a-f) of the Act 2000 can be summarized thus:
To receive and investigate reports of corrupt offences as created by the Act and in
appropriate cases prosecute the offender(s) - Enforcement duties.
To examine, review and enforce the correction of corruption-prone systems and
procedures of public bodies, with a view to eliminating or minimizing corruption in
public life- prevention duties.
To Educate and enlighten the public on and against corruption with a view to enlisting
and fostering public support for the fight against it – Education duties.
Aside from the very obvious challenges of setting up shop, the case filed by the
Attorney – General of Ondo State, arising from ICPC's first corruption case in May
2001, querying the constitutionality of the Act 2000, effectively paralyzed activities

of the Commission until June 7, 2002 when the Supreme Court upheld the validity of
the legislation.
In 2003, the defunct National Assembly scrapped the Commission by revoking the
Act 2000 and promulgating a bogus Act as a replacement. This unpatriotic move was
overturned by the Abuja Federal High Court on the grounds that the law was passed
without following due ssprocedure.
4. Contact
ICPC offices
For enquiries or comments, call, visit or send email to the following:
Abuja
Plot 802 Constitution Avenue,
Central District, Abuja Nigeria.
Tel/Fax: +234 9 523 8810
Lagos liaison Office
No. 10 Okotie Eboh street,
Off Awolowo Road,
SW - Ikoyi, Lagos.
Tel/Fax: +804 01 2673150,
Mobile:+804 214 7447
Kaduna liaison Office:
No. 7 Wurno Rd,
GRA Kaduna.
Tel: +802 3263427
Bauchi Zonal Office:
Old Bauchi Radio Corporation (BRC).
Along Gombe Road,
Bauchi. Bauchi State.
Tel/Fax: +77-546860
Email addresses
General enquiries, public enlightenment enquiries:
icpcprr@icpcnigeria.com
Education Enquiries (Seminars, workshops, corruption in educational institutions etc)
icpceducation@icpcnigeria.com
Enquiries about ICPC
icpcnews@icpcnigeria.com
The ICPC secretary
t.ingawa@icpcnigeria.com

5. Resources
http://www.icpcnigeria.com/
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
About EFCC
The preponderance of economic and financial crimes like Advance Fee Fraud (419),
Money Laundering, etc has had severe negative consequences on Nigeria, including
decreased Foreign Direct Investments in the country and tainting of Nigeria's national
image. The menace of these crimes and the recognition of the magnitude and gravity
of the situation led to the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC). The legal instrument backing the Commission is the attached
EFCC (Establishment) Act 2002 and the Commission has high-Ievel support from the
Presidency, the Legislature and key security and law enforcement agencies in Nigeria.
What we investigate
Advance Fee Fraud
This section mainly investigates cases of advance fee fraud(commonly called 419) i.e.
obtaining by false pretence through different fraudulent schemes e.g. contract scam,
credit card scam, inheritance scam, job scam, lottery scam, wash wash scam(money
washing scam), marriage scam. Immigration scam, counterfeiting, religious scam it
also investigates cases of cyber crime.
Watch out for the Business letter scam! For years now, businesses, learning
institutions, and government departments have been receiving e-mails from senders
posing as Nigerian/West-African government or business officials offering to share
large sums of money.
Do not become a victim. If you have received an unsolicited letter containing any of
the characteristics listed below, you should carefully research available information
before conducting a transaction.
Most letters are variations of the following:
You receive an "urgent" business proposal "in strictest confidence" from a
Nigerian/West-African civil servant /businessman.
Oil prospecting license - A proposal is normally made to unsuspecting members of

the public for allocation for crude oil lifting.
The sender, often a member of the "contract review panel", obtained your name and
profile through the Chamber of Commerce or the International Trade Commission.
The sender recently intercepted or has been named beneficiary of the proceeds from
real estate, oil products, over-invoiced contracts, cargo shipments, or other
commodities, and needs a foreign partner to assist with laundering the money.
Since their government/business position prohibits them from opening foreign bank
accounts, senders ask you to deposit the sum, usually somewhere between $25-50
million, into your personal account.
For your assistance, you will receive between 15-30% of the total, which sits in the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) awaiting transfer.
To complete the transaction, they ask you to provide your bank name and address,
your telephone and fax numbers, the name of your beneficiary, and, of course, your
bank account numbers.
The sender promises to forward your share within 10-14 working days!
Economic Governance
This section mainly deals with cases that have flair with good Governance,
transparency and accountability. It investigates cases ranging from abuse of Office,
official corruption, bribery of government officials, diversion of public funds through
fraudulent award of contracts, corruption in land allocation, Tax fraud, capital market
fraud, Money laundering, Oil Bunkering etc.
The Establishment Act
The Act mandates the EFCC to combat financial and economic crimes. The
Commission is empowered to prevent, investigate, prosecute and penalise economic
and financial crimes and is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions
of other laws and regulations relating to economic and financial crimes, including:
Economic and Financial Crimes commision Establishment act (2004)
The Money Laundering Act 1995
The Money Laundering (Prohibition) act 2004
The Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 1995
The Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act 1994
The Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 1991; and

Miscellaneous Offences Act
To view these documents (in PDF format) Click Here
In addition, the EFCC will be the key agency of government responsible for fighting
terrorism
EFCC Head Office
Email: info@efccnigeria.org Tel:+234 (9) 6441000
Resources
http://www.efccnigeria.org/index.phpoption=com_contact&catid=4&Itemid=3
Code Of Conduct Bureau
Vision
Rectitude in Public Office.
Mission
To establish a high standard of morality in the conduct of Government business
through the enforcement of the Code of Conduct for Public officers.
Introduction
Today Nigerians are in agreement that we need to rid ourselves of the cankerworm
called corruption, and conscientize ourselves towards acceptable behaviour. In
reality, no benefits accrue from unethical practices, which lead to corruption. The
depth of decay which corruption has brought into our National life is so frightening
and disturbing that most Nigerians, be it beneficiaries, or victims of corruption, are
tired of this phenomenon. The weight of corruption on our National physche is so
heavy that we are beginning to crack under it. The relief usually is that, when one
gets to such a breaking point, the options are either to throw off the weight, or get
swallowed up in the debris.
Mandate and Powers
1. Cap C15, LFN 2004 gives the Bureau the mandate to “establish and maintain a
high standard of morality in the conduct of Government business and to ensure that
the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of public
morality and accountability”.
2. To implement this mandate, Section 3, part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999

Constitution of the Federal Republic gives it the powers to:
receive declarations by public officers made under paragraph 11 of part 1 of the Fifth
schedule of the 1999 Constitution;
examine the declarations in accordance with the requirements of the Code of
Conduct or any law;
retain custody of such declarations and make them available for inspection by any
citizen of Nigeria on such terms and conditions as the National Assembly may
prescribe.
Ensure compliance with and, where appropriate, enforce the provisions of the Code of
Conduct or any law relating thereto;
Receive complaints about non-compliance with or breach of the provisions of the
Code of Conduct or any law in relation thereto, investigate the complaint and, where
appropriate, refer such matters to the Code of Conduct Tribunal;
Appoint, promote, dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over the staff of the Code
of Conduct Bureau in accordance with the provisions of an Act of the National
Assembly enacted in that behalf; and
Carry out such other functions as may be conferred upon it by the National
Assembly.
Activities of the Bureau
The mandate of the Bureau complements the National goals of government in
emphasizing a search for transparency and accountability. The entrenchment of
ethical principles in public office as a factor of the conduct and behaviour of public
officers, is the plumb-line that can be used to measure the depth or quality of service
delivery. The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)
focuses on changing the way government does its work. The bottom line in this
reform is to enhance service delivery. To increase public trust and enhance the
credibility of government.
The Code which the Bureau is established to enforce creates a boundary for the
behaviour of public officers, it provides a direction for official decision-making, it
draws a line between public and private interests. This, places a responsibility on the
public officers as managers of the trust, as well as the public to insist on
accountability and transparency. The Code focuses on discipline, moderation,
contentment and professionalism among other principles of public office. It also
serves as a check on extravagance and vulgar display of ill-gotten wealth, which is
capable of attracting envy and offending, to the less privileged among us, who would
most likely and rightly judge government by such displays.

From the above, it is clear that the enforcement of the Code of Conduct for public
officers is a matter of public responsibility, support and commitment. A public that
know and insists on its rights, a public that lives up to its responsibility of not just
reporting breaches of the Code, but following up, and providing useful and relevant
information, with integrity, so that the process of taking appropriate actions are
facilitated.
The media has a very important role to play in sensitizing the public, to the expected
level of responsibility and commitment. But, first the media, must itself have a good
grasp of the Code and the implication of each item, to the conduct of government
business, before it can perform this role effectively.
For Information/Enquiry, contact:
The Chairman
Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission
Plot 802, Constitution Avenue
Zone A9 Central Area
P. M.B 535, Garki. Abuja
Nigeria
Phone:
09-5236717 -Office of the Chairman
09-5236694 -Office of the Secretary to the Commission
Fax: 09 -5236717
Website: www.icpcnigeria.com
http://www.nigeria.gov.ng/NR/exeres/F54F838E-48B9-48A1-A3EA-B732CB39CAD
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