By Caleb Ayansina
ABUJA—NIGERIA has continued to experience persistent deterioration in the quality of governance, because the rules and regulations for doing official businesses are deliberately ignored or circumvented to facilitate corrupt practices, Acting Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Mr. Ekpo Nta, has said.

Nta was speaking at the sensitisation/enlighten-ment campaign against corruption for Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, staff in Port Harcourt. He said the major clog in the wheel of progress as a nation, particularly in socio-economic development, was the issue of corruption.

He recalled how the media was awash with revelations from investigation reports of anti-graft agencies and National Assembly fact-finding committees of how huge amount of public funds meant for social needs ended in private pockets.

He noted that the effect of corruption was enormous when huge resources were taken away from the economy, resulting in the denial of social, economic and other beneficial progra-mmes and engendered poverty and strife.

He regretted that corruption in Nigeria had been domesticated and grafted into “ethnic and official practices and renamed ‘public relations,’ ‘appreciation,’ etc.”

Nta stressed the values of integrity and accountability in public service as means of curbing the menace of corruption in the country, maintaining that integrity promotes the attributes of self-discipline, honesty, fairness, dependability, re-liability and zero tolerance to corruption in general.