Why NCC was ranked highest on ethics and integrity compliance
Fresh facts have emerged why the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), was ranked highest in terms of compliance to ethics and integrity among other sister agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.
According to NCC, “The outstanding performance of NCC was contained in the recently released Ethics Compliance and Integrity Scorecard (ECIS), 2020 by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC). With a total score of 81.15 percent, the Commission topped the list among three other agencies under the Ministry, which featured in the intra-ministerial agencies’ ranking in ethics compliance and institutional integrity.
“The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) emerged second with a total score of 74.05 percent; Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT) came second with a score of 31.9 percent while the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) occupied the fourth position with 17.65 percent. The report underscores NCC’s critical role as a member of the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU), which is the Federal Government’s vanguard for promoting ethics and ensuring compliance to ethical codes within the Nigerian Public sector.
“The ranking by ICPC, in addition to demonstrating NCC’s commitment to the orderly growth and development of the Nigerian telecommunications industry, underscores the Commission’s strategic role as a key enabler of positive change within Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape.”
It added: “Further to this, the ICPC has on Thursday, December 10, 2020, in Abuja, inaugurated the NCC’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU). ACTU is the initiative of the ICPC, approved by the Federal Government to serve as an in-house mechanism for corruption prevention within MDAs, in line with global best practices of building strong institutions and institutionalizing good governance in the fight against corruption.”
During the inauguration, Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive, NCC, had noted that that the ICPC itself has recently attested to the NCC’s high ethical values and professionalism as evident in the 2020 ICPC Ethics and Compliance Scorecard (IECS) report, where NCC topped other agencies in ratings.
The EVC had said the ICPC’s verdict also lends credence to the 2017 report of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR)-piloted Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) deployed in MDAs, where the NCC came off with a Platinum Level (Exceptional) award that NCC was a level 5 (Platinum standard) organization, the highest rating possible under the BPSR Assessment.
