Supreme Court, Legal Aid Council, 15 Govt Agencies Fail ICPC’s Ethics, Integrity Test
The Supreme Court of Nigeria, Legal Aid Council, Hajj Commission, Federal Civil Service Commission, National Hajj Commission, and 15 key agencies of the Federal Government recording zero mark in the 2024 ethics and integrity test carried out by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The ethics and evaluation test carried out on 330 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, revealed a damning performance record as the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the Nigeria Legal Aid Council recorded abysmal low marks.
The report showed that none of the 330 MDAs evaluated, achieved full compliance just as 15 of the institutions scored zero percent.
However, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) distinguished itself as it recorded the highest points amongst the MDAs with 89.75 per cent compliance.
The outcome of the ICPC report underscored the need for comprehensive reforms across institutions of the federal government to critically address systemic and endemic issues with a view to enhancing ethical governance in Nigeria.
The 15 institutions that recorded zero scores in their assessment are; the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Nigeria Press Council (NPC), Legal Aid Council (LAC), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State; Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC).
Others include; the Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Gombe; National Obstetrics Fistula Centre, Ningi, Bauchi State; Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Jos; Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State; Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation (FCFM), Mando, Kaduna State and Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON).
The ICPC report highlighted significant shortcomings across the agencies in addition to a lack of robust whistleblower protection mechanisms, inadequate strategic plans for ethical governance, as well as failure to maintain transparent financial records and conduct regular audits.
The ICPC’s assessment significantly aligned with public perception and concerns being expressed by serving and retired Supreme Court justices regarding corruption within the judiciary.
