NEWS DETAILS: ICPC INAUGURATES ANTI-CORRUPTION AND TRANSPARENCY UNIT IN RMRDC - 6TH MAY 2019

Following are the details of the news:

The Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council has been inaugurated by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in Abuja.

The inauguration of the unit and the induction of its newly reconstituted members are geared towards instilling transparent and accountable systems to achieving a sanitized work environment.

Speaking at the official ceremony, the Chairman of ICPC Professor Bolaji Owosanoye represented by Olayinka Aiyegbayo said the ACTU was one of the three - pronged

approaches toward fighting corrupt practices and entrenching transparency and accountability in the work place.

‘’The existence of ACTU is a demonstration of the preventive mandate. It was in collaboration with the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, initiated in 2001 to help fight corrupt practices in all government establishments. The unit serves as an in-house regulatory mechanism in identifying corruption prone practices and procedures in public bodies and seeks to establish process that are transparent, accountable and free of unethical practices ‘’ he said.

He stated that the ACTU would engage in a periodic sensitization of staff, conduct of preliminary investigations, and the study and review of corruption prone process and procedures among other duties.

‘’let me state here that the ACTU is not meant to displace or challenge the authority of management in running the affairs of organisations, rather it is to complement them especially in the areas of instilling discipline and integrity where it may be lacking”, Owosanoye said.

He urged management of the Council to support the unit especially in the area of providing adequate funding.

Earlier, the Director General of the Council, Professor Hussaini Doko Ibrahim represented by the Director, Industrial Chemicals and Minerals Department (ICMD) in the council Dr, Muhamed Lawal Buga said the council in line with the aspiration and anti- corruption drive of the present administration would provide enabling environment for the ACTU members to continue to function effectively.

He said ‘’the ACTU committee initiated an innovative idea of sending messages to generality of staff as well as sensitizing the council’s staff on anti-corruption laws. I observed that the messages have impacted on attitudinal changes of staff’’.

The chairman of the Committee and the Director of Agric and Agro-Allied Department of RMRDC, Dr. Gabriel Awolehin in his acceptance speech assured that, the unit will work hard to actualize the present effort by the Management to stamp out corruption to the barest minimum within the Council and install a transparent system of administration that will stand the test of time.