Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, has urged both community and religious leaders across the country to monitor closely, all government projects and funds in their communities to make the fight against corruption easier.

According to him, behavioural change, resulting in integrity, transparency and accountability, at grassroots level, are necessary to eradicate corruption in the country.

Owasanoye said this in Owerri, Imo State capital, at the weekend, during a workshop on ‘Behavioural Change, National Ethics, Integrity Policy and Constituency Projects Tracking Initiative for Traditional and Religious Leaders and Community -based Civil Society Groups.’

Represented by the South East representative on the board of the commission, Senator Anthony Agbo, the ICPC boss reminded participants that the fight cannot be for the anti-graft agency alone, stressing that “all hands must be on the deck,” to achieve results.

Owasanoye, regretted that corruption had permeated every level of society, which, he said, resulted in social vices ranging from insecurity to infrastructural decay.
Civil servants, he lamented, are allegedly the worst culprits, and not politicians, as peddled.

He disclosed that civil servants allegedly perpetrate such through “budget padding, project duplication and resource misappropriation.”

The ICPC chairman appealed to whistleblowers to uncover any perceived inadequacies at the community level.

Speaking, the Imo State Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner (RAAC), Peter Alumbugu, harped on the need for leaders to strive to observe all things happening around them and report, promptly, any infraction, especially, the procurement procedures and project execution.

Alumbugu, said the commission has been proactive in its statutory duties through “collation and analysis of suspicious projects after thorough investigation, leading to enforcement by possible prosecution of the suspects.”