As part of plans to encourage workers to buy-in into its fight against financial and economic crimes in the country, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission on Tuesday said it will partner with the National Examination Council as a watchdog in the education industry.
The Chairman of the Commission, Mallam Ibrahim Lamorde, made the remark during the opening of a two-day workshop on EFCC Anti-Corruption Sensitization Programme for Senior Management Staff of National Examination Council held in Minna, the Niger State capital.
Lamorde said: “The programme is specially designed for public and private sector workers in direct response to the mandate of the commission to prevent economic and financial crimes, including corruption.”
Lamorde, represented by the Deputy Director of Public Affairs of the EFCC, Osita Nwajah, said Section 6 of the EFCC (Establishment) ACT requires the commission to fulfil its enforcement responsibilities of taking measures to prevent the commission of economic and financial crimes.
He said: “Amongst such measures is aggressive public enlightenment and education.
“It is cheaper to prevent crime than to fight crime.
“The essence of this workshop is to take the anti-graft campaign to the workplace and encourage workers to have a buy-in as EFCC alone cannot fight and win the war against corruption, economic and financial crimes in Nigeria.”
Lamorde said at the end of the programme, it is hoped that the performance of NECO staff in the discharge of their duties and in strict accordance of the law would have been enhanced.
Similarly, the Registrar of NECO, Prof. Promise Okpalla, said that the examination body is a major watchdog in the education industry.
Okpalla said they are like external auditors.
Okpalla said that principals can conduct exams, which they call mock examination, to simulate every thing NECO does but the only thing is that NECO is more objective and independent, adding that employers prefer examination certificates from independent bodies.
He then urged NECO participants to take the workshop with all the seriousness and commitment it deserves through demonstration of transparency and accountability in service delivery.
Okpalla urged all NECO staff to be personally transparent and accountable as that is what integrity is all about.
Accordingly, he said: “You don’t run short of accountability on money issues alone but when sensitive information is released to a friend or a relative or you are sympathetic to that child who has refused to learn you are corrupt even when you have not collected money.
“You are no longer accountable to the society that set you up in NECO.”
Opkalla was decorated as the Ambassador of Anti-Corruption in NECO by Nwaja.
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