From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari is set to declare open the 3rd National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector, being organized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).
The event with the theme ‘Corruption and Cost of Governance: New Imperatives for Fiscal Transparency’ is slated to hold on 30th November 2021 at the State House Conference Centre (Old Banquet Hall), Presidential Villa, Abuja, and virtually on the Cisco Webex app.
The programme will also be streamed live on Facebook @ICPCNIGERIA. President Buhari will also publicly recognize and confer two public servants who have distinguished themselves with exceptional acts of integrity with the 2021 Public Service Integrity Award, while a private citizen will be recognized as the Citizen’s Anti-Corruption Volunteer Group Icon.
High profile personalities expected to give goodwill address at the event focusing on diminishing corruption in the public sector are the President of the Senate, Senator Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan; Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha. The Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. (Mrs.) Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, will deliver the keynote address on the theme: Corruption and Cost of Governance; New Imperatives for Fiscal Transparency.
Six panelists have been scheduled to discuss topical anti-corruption matters at the technical session. They include Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, who will speak on Corruption and Cost of Governance in Recruitment; Executive Secretary of the Presidential Action Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Sadiq Radda, who will speak on Corruption and Cost of Governance in Security Spending, and Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who will be speaking on Corruption and Cost of Governance in the Education Sector. Other discussants in the technical session are the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Mr. Asishana Okauru; Country Director of Action Aid, Dr. Ene Obi, and Mr. Hafiz Mohammed of the ICPC.
They are expected to speak on Corruption and Cost of Governance at sub-national levels, Corruption and Cost of Governance in the Health Sector, and Corruption and Cost of Governance in the Execution of Government Projects. Physical attendance to the Summit is strictly by invitation and all participants are to be seated by 9.30am.
The cost of governance in Nigeria should be reduced drastically. Senators does not need to earn what they take home as salaries. Our lawmakers are the most highly paid in the world and Nigeria is not a developed country. There are problems in the health sector, in education, with decay in infrastructure, with massive unemployment , with social justice, poverty, corruption, famine and the country is battling with insecurity.