Supreme Court, 14 other government agencies Fail ICPC ethics test

Nigeria’s Supreme Court and 14 other government agencies have failed the 2024 Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS), an annual evaluation conducted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The ICPC, during a presentation on Thursday at its Abuja headquarters, revealed that none of the 330 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) assessed achieved full compliance with the established standards.

The Supreme Court and the other non-compliant MDAs scored zero on the scorecard, exposing systemic deficiencies in areas such as whistleblower policies, strategic planning, and financial accountability.

“These agencies failed due to systemic lapses, including the absence of whistleblower frameworks, inadequate strategic plans, and ineffective stock verification processes,” the ICPC reported.

Additionally, many MDAs were unable to produce financial reports or conduct proper audits, further diminishing public trust in their operations.

The EICS evaluated MDAs using five key performance indicators:

• Management Culture and Structure (MCS)
• Governance and Executive Management
• Financial Management Systems (FMS)
• Finance, Revenue, and Audit Processes
• Administrative Systems (AS), including ethics education and whistleblowing mechanisms.

The 15 institutions that scored 0.00 include the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Nigeria Press Council (NPC), Legal Aid Council (LAC), National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), and Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON).

Others are Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe; National Obstetrics Fistula Centre, Bauchi State; Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Jos; Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike; Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Kaduna; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; Federal Polytechnic, Ede; and the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.