.As ICPC partners with PEBEC to prosecute corrupt public officials
In a bid to secure the reforms agenda of the Federal Government, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has said that rubust collaboration between the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) would help to improve the business climate in Nigeria
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The VP made this disclosure at the meeting of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), which he presided on Monday.
Prof. Osinbajo, in a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, said that there will now be a direct connection between the anti-corruption agenda of the Buhari administration and the reform efforts of the Federal Government.
He explained that this will secure the reforms through criminal investigation and prosecution of public complaints, while the ICPC will carry out such prosecution where necessary.
According to him, complaints from Nigerians regarding activities and practices in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) bordering on suspected corruption and deliberate stalling of reform efforts would now be referred from the REPORTGOV.NG portal of PEBEC to the ICPC for investigation and prosecution.
While noting that the Buhari administration remains committed to tackling corruption, Prof. Osinbajo said, “There is a lot of talk about high-level corruption and some public officials stealing money, etc; but I think for average Nigerians, the point of contact is really this sort of approvals for ID cards, for passports, customs, officials, police, and so on.”
Speaking oin the essence of the collaboration, Prof. Osinbajo noted that collaboration between PEBEC and the ICPC is an important step in achieving the FG’s reform agenda, especially regarding all government MDAs regulating business environment responsibilities, thereby ensuring a more condusive environment for businesses in the country.
“I think that if this collaboration is robust enough, we will be able to kill two birds with one stone; first is improving our Ease of Doing Business, second is our anti-corruption ranking internationally, because some of the ranking is a perception index. So, people are simply asked, what is your perception about corruption in Nigeria?
“So, if we work on these issues, we can really do a lot in terms of improving the image of the country, not just in the Ease of Doing Business rankings, but also in terms of perception of corruption.”
It would be recalled that following the issuance of Executive Order 01 (EO1) in May 2017, and subsequent directive of the PEBEC to track implementation of the Order, PEBEC, through its Enabling Business Environment Secretariat (EBES), began tracking the compliance of MDAs to the EO1.
Consequently, to make it easier to resolve issues relating to government agencies, PEBEC developed an online platform, REPORTGOV.NG, for the public to lodge complaints and provide feedback on services rendered by MDAs. Complaints from the portal would now proceed to the ICPC where and when necessary.
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