By Fortune Eromosele, Abuja

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has identified the National Ethics and Integrity Policy as a key player and tool for fighting corruption in Nigeria.

Recall that the Federal Executive Council had approved the National Ethics and Integrity Policy, which was officially launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in September, 2020.

Addressing newsmen during an interactive panel session of the 28th Nigerian Economic Summit organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, with the theme: “Harnessing Behavioural Insights to Counter Corruption,” in Abuja, a board member of ICPC, Mrs Olubukola Balogun, said law and order would be restored if Nigeria could go back to the “drawing board.”

This according to her, was what the anti-graft agency had been advocating for, a process she said that must be driven by society and not just government alone.

She maintained that the Commission had held over 43 meetings with traditional rulers, religious leaders and youth groups, in a bid to enact the National Ethics and Integrity Policy for fighting corruption.

She said, “Government policies is approaching the fight against corruption in other areas other than law and order. There are sanctions, systems, but everything has to be driven by the society. It is the society that will make the two work.

“So we want to work on the society and that is why we now have the type of development partners and government has approved the National Ethics and Integrity policy, this was approved by the Federal Executive Council and launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in September, 2020.

“The National Ethics and Integrity Policy, has seven main core values, it is these values that we are taking round the country. We’ve had about 43 meetings and met with traditional rulers, religious leaders and youth groups.

“This is what we are advocating for, let us all come back to the drawing board and get our values right in the society. All the behaviours that are unethical let us leave it, it is for our common good so that we can have shared prosperity; everybody and everywhere we can all get it right, we need to come back. And the ICPC will continue to drive this action.”

On her part, Deputy Director, Policy Innovation Centre, Osasuyi Dirisu, said her organisation was implementing a three-year program to harness lessons from behavioural science that would promote accountability and transparency in Nigeria.

She said, “The policy innovation centre of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, is implementing a three-year program funded by the MacArthur foundation, to harness lessons from behavioural science, and use those lessons from behavioural science to work on improving accountability and transparency in Nigeria.

“The event we are here for today, is part of that effort to keep that ongoing conversation to improve accountability and transparency within different sectors of the country.

“What we did here is special because we brought both the public and private sectors together to have a shared understanding of what the problem is and what the solutions are and how to use lessons that we know from behavioural science to improve accountability and transparency in Nigeria and counter corruption.”