FUGUS Leads In Ethics Integrity Compliance Among Federal Universities

The Federal University Gusau (FUGUS), Zamfara State has been ranked first in Ethics and Integrity Compliance, 2023, by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Similarly, the University was ranked as number Thirty Two (32) out of a total of Three Hundred and Sixty-eight (368) Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) assessed by the Commission for the year 2023.

In a statement, the Information Officer of the university, Umar Usman said the his was made known in the Commission’s Advertorial published in the Daily Trust Newspaper of Wednesday, 1st November, 2023.

According to the ICPC, “the Commission is inclined to initiatives, measures and programmes that hold public agencies, bodies and their officials accountable and ethical.

“This disposition is founded on the preventive mandate of its establishment Law, the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000.

It is in the best interest and advancement of public institutions and the nation that ethics and compliance are understood, imbibed and made the foundation of public agencies’ operations and activities.

“In ensuring that organizations work in line with ethical provisions, the Commission has since 2019 deployed the Ethics and integrity compliance scorecard.

This tool basically measures three key Performance Indicators (KPI), namely, Management Culture and Structure, Financial Management System and Administrative System along with subindicators under each KPI.

“The aim of the EICS deployment in MDAs is to diminish corruption risks, system abuse and to revive ethics and integrity benchmarks in government offices while ensuring good service delivery.

“For 2023, the tool was deployed between March and July, 2023 in 404 MDAs.

A total of 368 made responses on the assessment and were rated according to their level and degrees of compliance.

The 36 MDAs who declined to make any response were classified as Non-Responsive; and Highly Corruption Risk Agencies (HCRAs) and are envisaged for further enquiries and actions by the Commission”, the Advertorial explicitly stated.

Speaking on the development, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Mu’azu Abubakar Gusau stated that the news did not come to him as a surprise because he had put all measures in place in the University to ensure Ethics and Integrity Compliance are promoted and sustained in the University as requested by the ICPC.

He expressed his happiness over the report and said that the ranking by the ICPC was a challenge for him to do more while fighting all forms of corruption within the University.

While pledging to support the Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) of the University, the Vice-Chancellor called on staff and all students’ anti-corruption associations to support him in getting rid of all forms of corruption in the University