Posted by By ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja on
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) announced on Wednesday that the total money it has recovered so far is in excess of N13 billion.
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) announced on Wednesday that the total money it has recovered so far is in excess of N13 billion.
This is just as the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Prince Adebajo Abiodun Babington-Ashaye, wants those culpable in the Ministry of Health and the National Assembly to resign their positions over the N300 million unspent budget scam.
In his welcome address at the National Workshop on Enhancing Economic Growth Through Anti-Corruption Measures, organized by ICAN in Abuja, Chairman of ICPC, Justice Emmanuel Olayinka Ayoola, who spoke through his Chief of Staff, Dr. Angulu, stressed that corruption is the cause of economic stagnation and other vices bedeviling the society.
Defining corruption as the abuse of public office for private gains, he stressed the need for corrupt-free society for generations to come.
Also speaking in the same vein, ICAN president condemned the way public officials flaunt wealth they could never ordinarily afford at home and abroad.
'Over the years, we have witnessed the misallocation of public resources, stealing of the common wealth of the people in the name of national service. We have watched helplessly, how those who hold positions of trust have abused such positions and wreaked havoc on the people's resources," he said.
This, he said, is the reason why the nation has been rated in the global corruption index in the last four years as either the most corrupt or the second most corrupt nation in the world. According to him, the classification is most repulsive, undeserved and unacceptable.
For this, he commended the president for the recent purging of his cabinet regarding the N300 million scam in the Ministry of Health.
'We expect those culpable in the Ministry of Health and the National Assembly to gracefully resign their positions for betraying the trust of the people. It is our fervent hope and prayer that this action of the president will not be a one-off incident, if we are desirous of raising the credibility of public officials and institutions, particularly in the perception of the international community and for our own good," he said.
Against this background, Babighton-Ashaye, vowed to sanction any ICAN member found to have compromised his/her professional status such that the public interest is protected.