From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja

National Orientation Agency, NOA has called on Nigerians to shun all forms of corruption such as selling of votes, vote buying and violence at the upcoming 2023 general elections.

Speaking at the 2022 Corruption Tori Anti-Corruption Icons Awards held yesterday to commemorate this year’s Anti-Corruption Day, NOA Director-General, Dr Garba Abari, urged Nigerians to imbibe national core values which centre on patriotism, social justice, and religious tolerance, as well as those positive values that are enshrined in the constitution to make them better citizens and promote unity in the country.

 Abari who was represented by Kenneth Onyejepu, Director, Procurement at NOA, said that the agency has been in the forefront of fighting corruption in Nigeria, stating that it was in collaboration with ICPC, EFCC at different levels.

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“At this programme, we gave out some flyers on issues regarding corruption and why Nigerians should imbibe national core values which centre on patriotism, social justice and religious tolerance – those positive values that are enshrined in the constitution,” Onyejepu said.

He stated that in line with the NOA anti-corruption fight, the agency has programmes such as the War Against Indiscipline Brigade and a host of others to tackle the menace of corruption in the country.

He further said: “Now, we are educating people on the need to vote and participate in the upcoming elections because it is their right to vote. We are telling them not to sell their votes and eschew every form of corrupt practices like selling votes, vote buying and shun every form of corruption violence.”

He pointed out that corruption is not limited to the abuse of political power, it is at every level of the society; that is why the agency has embarked on a campaign on ethics and integrity in schools to catch the young ones to get them to know that there are good values that they can imbibe to shun corruption at their stage.