The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission, ICPC, has lauded the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, for promoting ethics.

In a letter written in respect of that, the Commission stated further that NiMET tough stand was capable of discouraging corrupt practices and behavior in the country.

In addition, ICPC also commended the agency for creating the right environment for the effective functioning of the Anti-corruption and Transparency Unit, ACTU, in line with the mandate of the ICPC.

In a letter signed by the ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, the agency was scored 69.9 percent during the 2020 deployment of the Ethics and Compliance Scorecard and the ACTU Effectiveness Index, AEI.

 The letter partly read: “Recall that the commission, under section 6(b) – (d) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, carried out the 2020 deployment of the Ethics and Compliance Scorecard, ECS, and the ACTU Effectiveness Index, AEI.

“Your documents were analysed and the result revealed a score of 69.9 % which connotes partial compliance on the ECS and a very effective status on the AEI.

“The commission commends your organisation for the structures and processes you have in place which promote efficiency,”

The ICPC Chairman thereafter counselled the agency to maintain the standards while also improving on such areas as ethics and compliance training to identify corruption vulnerabilities, mitigation mechanisms, and effective whistle-blowing mechanisms.

Other areas include the continued support for the Anti-corruption and Transparency Unit, development of a clear policy to guide acceptance of gifts, hospitality, and donations by staff, and putting in place a system for staff to understand the core values of the agency.

In his response, the Director-General of NiMet, Professor Sani Abubakar Mashi, described the development as a good one, saying it would spur the agency to do more in the area of anti-corruption fights.

“The agency has been able to record major achievements with the encouragement of the Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika, “whose commitment and leadership continues to propel the sector to higher altitudes,” Mashi added.