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Aside the EFCC, other institutional anti-corruption strategies include:

i. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and its Act 2000

ii. The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB)

iii. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI) iv. Budget Monitoring Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU)

181 v. Criminal Intelligence Department (CID)

The above are the other anti-corruption institutions that were introduced or strengthened in the Fourth Republic.¹⁰⁶ Each of the institutions is discussed in the next section.

5.5.2.1 The Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Its Act

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission was inaugurated on the 29th of September, 2000 by President Olusegun Obasanjo. As provided for in Section 3(3) of the Act 2000, the Commission consists of a Chairman and twelve (12) members, two of whom represent each of the six geo-political zones of the country.

The membership is drawn from the following categories of Nigerians as spelt out by the Act: a retired police officer not below the rank of Commissioner of Police, a legal practitioner with at least 10 years post-call experience; a retired Judge of a superior court of record; a retired public servant not below the rank of a director; a woman; a youth not being less than 21 or more than 30 years of age at the time of his or her appointment; and a chartered accountant.¹⁰⁷

The Act provides that the Chairman and members of the Commission, who shall be persons of proven integrity, shall be appointed by the President upon confirmation by the Senate and shall not begin to discharge their duties until they have declared their assets and liabilities as prescribed in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The tenure of office for the Chairman is five (5) years while that of the Members is four (4) years in the first instance.

The Act also provides for the position of a Secretary to the Commission who is to be appointed by the President. The Commission is granted the powers to appoint, deploy, discipline and determine the conditions of service of its staff. Section 3 (14) of the Act enshrines the independence of the Commission by providing that “the Commission shall in the discharge of its functions under this Act, not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority”.¹⁰⁸

The law that establishes the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission-The ICPC, and confers on the Commission the general powers to receive, investigate and prosecute corrupt practices and other related offences as well as

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carry out public education.¹⁰⁹ This Commission is a dedicated anti-corruption agency with full powers of investigation and prosecution. Offences created under the Act include the following: Gratification by an official;¹¹⁰ Corrupt offers to public officers; Corrupt demand by persons; Fraudulent acquisition of property; Gratification through agents;

Bribery of public officer; Using position for gratification; Dealing with, holding, receiving and concealing proceeds of corruption. The Commission also has the power of search and seizure¹¹¹ and effecting forfeiture¹¹² of the proceeds of corruption.

5.5.2.2 Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB)

The code of conduct Bureau (CCB) and its twin sister, the Code of Conduct Tribunal are extra-ministerial Department set up by the federal government under the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, Cap 56, LFN 1990. The 1979 and 1999 constitutions, fifth schedule part 1 – stipulate clearly the code of conduct for public officers and it has been operating under the constitution as extra-ministerial department since 1979.¹¹³ However, Decree 1 of 1989 gave the bureau additional teeth for action yet the military continued to subtly suppress it till 1999 when an enabling law known as the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act 1999 was enacted by the National Assembly.

Though as earlier mentioned, the 1999 constitution gives it powers but the later Act gave the Bureau a distinct right and independency. It has been effectively prosecuting offending public officers who failed to declare their assets and liabilities during their occupation of public offices. Civil servants (Federal, State and Local government) are part of public officers as such are directly affected by the Bureau‟s investigation code of conduct (Bureau Hand book 2003)¹¹⁴. The Bureau stipulates the conduct of a public officer and the ethical behaviour of such public officer.

5.5.2.3 Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)

NEITI is an affiliate of the Global Initiative i.e. the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). It is aimed at due process and transparency in payments by Extractive Industrial (EI) companies to government and government linked entities. It is also aimed at improving transparency and independent auditing of the oil and gas revenues in Nigeria. NEITI was established in 2004 as it has been working through the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG). NEITI bill was signed into law in 2007 thereby giving its activities legal backing and also recognizing it as subset of the Global

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Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GEITI). In fact by the 2007 Act, NEITI is recognized as an official candidate of EITI. NEITI Act 2007 mandated the Nigerian Extractive Industrials Transparency Initiative (EITI) to provide due process and transparency in extractive revenue paid to and received by government as well as ensures transparency and accountability in the application of extractive revenues.¹¹⁵ Going by the antecedent of NEITI leadership headed by Prof. Assisi Asobie, the world and indeed the Global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative may have confidence in the integrity and transparent activities of oil and gas companies and the accrued revenue.

5.5.2.4 Public Complaints Commission (PCC)

The public complaint commission also called Office of the Ombudsman is really the Nigerian ombudsman. It was established in 1999 and it has commissioner as the head.

Such commissioner whose appointment is subject to the National Assemblies‟ ratification is usually a retired high court Judge. The report of the commission is usually public. By 2004, the commission is reported to have had 5,604 pending cases having discharged 5539 cases of the total complaint of 11,143.¹¹⁶ Though there has been criticism on its snail pace of discharging cases, the commission is attributing the lack of expedition to unavailability of required resources. However it is practically clear that the government rarely acts on the findings of the agency.

5.5.2.5 Budget Monitoring Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU)

The Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU) mechanism is initiated to ensure strict compliance with the openness and cost accuracy rules and procedure that would guide contract award and project execution within the federal government of Nigeria. It was established in 2001 by the former president Obasanjo with the aim of insuring probity, transparency and accountability in budgetary and public expenditure management. It is applied and enforced in the federal government and agencies. It is popularly called Due Process. Due process has improved the method of contract award which hitherto associated with corrupt and sharp practices. With the establishment of BMPIU i.e. Due Process contract awards were reviewed and acceptable and transparent process of contract award was instituted with a view to ensure that public contracts are awarded in a transparent and competitive bidding which is usually held publicly.¹¹⁷

184 5.5.2.6 Criminal Investigation Department (CID)

This is an arm of the Police that investigates crimes of any sort. It investigates all cases and complaints and prosecutes the culprits or anybody that is found wanting by the Police Force. Having enumerated some of the public agencies for anti-corruption crusade the private anti-corruption initiatives have also been operating with vigour, with the aim of fighting corruption.

Apart from the Transparency International, other agency like Zero Corruption Coalition (ZCC) is an anti-corruption agency working with Transparency and Accountability in Nigeria. It advocates with government anticorruption agencies on the need to domesticate and implement both the UNCAC and AU convention against corruption.

Others include:

vi. The Establishment of Due Process Office

vii. The Establishment of Anti-corruption Departments in some of the Federal Ministries and Parastatals

viii. The Establishment of the Technical Unit on Governance and Anti-Corruption Reform (TUGAR).