By JOHN NWOKOCHA, Abuja

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof Bolaji Owasanoye has said that the Commission is committed to diligent investigations of cases before it, in fulfilling its mandate. He said that the Commission is always conscious of the Act that established it, stressing that pursuant to the Act, the Commission has recorded tremendous achievements since it came to existence in 2000. “We can see progress being made. This is not to say there’s no corruption.” Prof Owasanoye also dismissed wide insinuations that the anti-corruption Commission is slow in concluding investigations of cases of corruption before it. He said “Our law forbids us to disclose who we are investigating until investigations are concluded. The media is also bound by these constraints”. “We cannot afford to incorrect facts”. He added.

The chairman who spoke via viral, addressed journalists in attendance at a Capacity Building summit organized by the Commission, reiterated the important role of the media in the fight against corruption. He noted that the media being regarded as the Fourth Estate of the Realm underscores the role of journalists in social development. He said that investigative journalism is one of the important aspects of the media in exposing corruption in governments. He urged the media to always play its important role of holding governments accountable for corruption and malfeasance. He however charged the media to always try to balance its reports in public interest. He called on the practitioners to strive to draw a line between balance reporting and fake news.

According to him “Nothing can be further from the truth.

“Diligent investigations lead to credible reports”.

While the chairman further urged the media to interrogate global reports on corruption, he said “We’re in a system so highly vulnerable to manipulation. This is not to say there’s no corruption.”

Prof Owasanoye also used the occasion to canvass for greater partnership between the anti-corruption body and the media.

Speaking at the occasion also, Provost of Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria in Nasarawa State, Prof Olatunde Babawale noted that the Commission was doing a lot in line with the ACT establishing it, “there is still more to be done towards citizens’ satisfaction”.

Calling on the media to come on board as partners in the war against corruption, Babawale maintained that “the media is expected to be an instrument of transparency and accountability”. He said that the occasion was an opportunity for experience sharing.

Other speakers, key directors of the Commission harped on the essentials of the media in exposing corruption such as abuse of public office for private gain. The speakers raised other concerns ranging from wrong public perceptions of the Commission to why its investigations need public cooperation.

While appreciating the media for supporting the ICPC, spokesperson of the anti-corruption body, Azuka Ogugua, on her part, proffered strategies on how to achieve and sustain robust media partnership with the Commission. She noted that the summit with a theme: Capacity Building for the Media on Reporting Anti-Corruption Issues as They Relates to ICPI Initiatives, the objective was to seek for more collaboration with the media in the fight against corruption.

Participants at the training agreed that the summit was well thought out by the Commission, useful, as it helped to broaden knowledge about operations of the anti-corruption body. They also agreed that the timing was no accident.

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