Kaduna – Mr. Okey Igbudu  the Head of  Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Kaduna Zonal office,  says the agency is  prosecuting 270 corruption cases involving 516 persons.

Igbudusaid at the UN Anti Corruption Day Celebration in Kaduna on Friday that the theme for the  celebration “Mobilising Civil Society for Good Governance ’’, was appropriate to  raise the people’s consciousness and encourage them to act.

“ICPC is not only to receive and investigate complaints of corrupt acts but the law also empowers it to enlist and foster public support in combating corruption. ’’

He said that the commission had engaged in annual budget verification of Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs).

“ICPC has undertaken system study in 88 MDAs and registered over 400 NGOs out of which 300 of them have been trained with assistance from UNDP.’’

He urged state governments  to comply g with the UN Conventions against corruption  to ensure its success for a better and corrupt free society.

Igbudu  called on  civil society groups, communities, unions and the media to join in the fight against corruption.

“If we as citizens continue to play our roles in the fight against corruption, a day will come, when assets of public officers are easily accessible without much effort. ’’

Gov. Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State said the fight against corruption would “ instil a high level of discipline and responsibility among Nigerians’’ and ensure accountability and transparency among the people.

Yakowa, represented by the Head of Service of Kaduna State, Mrs Hannatu Ugah, said the vision 20:20-20 agenda would only be realised if the citizens set aside all negative tendencies that would draw the nation backward and imbibe positive behaviour.

“The choice of being good or bad starts from within an individual’s heart. This is where re-orientation is required for us to have a re-branded society. There is therefore the need for each and everyone of us to join the crusade for a better society.”

The governor reiterated the state government’s commitment to fight corruption, as it recently “updated the Public Service Rules (PSR), financial Instructions (FI) and stores Regulations (SR).’’

He  said that the state government had also prepared  two bills on fiscal responsibility and public procurement which would soon be presented to the state House of Assembly for passage.

According to him, the state has deployed a Budget, Accounting Treasury Management Information System (BATMIS), Computer Aided Audit Tools (CAAT) and Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) to ensure transparency in its operations.

Yakowasaid  the state government commenced electronic preparation and production of financial transactions in October for accountability of the state government financial operations.

He commended ICPC for its efforts in the fight against corruption and urged the agency to sustain the fight to ensure n corruption free society. (NAN)