Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye on Monday harped on the dangers of fake news, saying it threatens professional competencies and source livelihoods.
He noted that it threatens the stability of the state, and called on the media to be wary of fake news and biased reporting.
Owasanoye stated this at the Commission’s Headquarters, Abuja in his address at a two-day workshop for reporters covering ICPC.
He also urged participants to use the opportunity to establish a relationship with ICPC and not just a relationship that demands the Commission to disclose which high profile case the Commission is investigating, but a relationship that would help discuss how to deal with the scourge of corruption as well as challenges and risks confronting the media and the anti-corruption agencies globally.
Owasanoye also revealed that since the first training workshop for journalists was held last year, there had been an improved trajectory of reportage and that this can be further improved by more engagements and sharing of information and perspective with stakeholders such as the workshop in order to close the gaps that have existed.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jude Okoye, a Deputy Director in the Commission while presenting a paper on the overview of ICPC achievements recorded from 2019 to March 2023 said, “The Commission made impressive performance in some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like assets recoveries, staff training by taking advantage of webinar platforms, non-petition Intelligence-led investigation, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) assessed with Ethics and Compliance Scorecard, corruption monitoring activities, Anti-Corruption activities undertaken by ICPC- supported CSO platforms, Hits and Feedbacks on ICPC websites and other communication platforms.
“Others include cases filed in court, Annual Auditing of ICPC, Annual Staff Scorecard on Management Performance, etc.”
According to Okoye, some KPIs didn’t perform optimally relative to the targets set. These, he said include number of convictions, petitions received, number of system studies and CRAS conducted, system reviews conducted, anti-corruption clubs and vanguards formed, individuals trained by ACAN, and so on.
The Director, Public Enlightenment and Education Department, Mr. Mohammed Ashiru Baba, in his welcome remark pointed out how over the years, the press had only focused on the arrest and prosecution of ‘big shots’ in the society, saying that such practice negated the efforts at preventing corruption.
“This one-sided outlook by the media was due to the erroneous belief by some media practitioners that the fight against corruption begins and ends with arrest and prosecution of the corrupt politically exposed persons.”
Baba highlighted some of the Commission’s efforts at “enhancing corporate good governance through Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTUs) in MDAs; Systems Study and Review, Ethics and Integrity Scorecards; Corruption Risk Assessments, Youth Outreach and behavioural change strategies conducted by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN),” which the media was hitherto silent about them.
He stated that 90 percent of the Commission’s activities were preventive and public education in nature which should elicit high level media coverage, adding that even prosecution and convictions ought to be reported widely and positively.
The training session was attended by journalists on the ICPC beat in the Federal Capital Territory and featured insightful presentations on the achievements and initiatives of the Commission, prosecution processes, measuring progress in the fight against corruption presented by ICPC management staff and seasoned media personnel.
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