How office Romance in ICPC Threatened Anti Graft War
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Tongues are wagging and tension is escalating among staff of theIndependent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC)as a top staff of the ICPC is said to be having an amorous affairs with awoman who heads a sensitive position in the commission culminating intosecret marriage and this has to a large extent affected their official dutiesthereby damaging the reputation of the anti-graft agency.
The illicit romance first blew open as an office romance between a topinvestigator and a public relations officer but has since been secretlyformalized without following due process of change of name.The office romance which was hitherto a top secret took on an interestingdimension when they began interacting to pursue ulterior objectives againstindividuals and organisations invited by the ICPC using their departmentalpositions discreetly.This unofficial collusion of husband and wife hit the rocks in November lastyear when the ICPC was inundated with public ridicule and outrage over itspress statement on an investigation that was riddled with unpardonableerrors and scandalous misrepresentation at variance with the documentedrecords of the investigation.The barrage of criticism and condemnation of ICPC triggered by the pressstatement prompted internal queries which confirmed that it was entirelyplotted by the husband-and-wife cabal to blackmail some organizations andextort “settlement” terms.The internal investigation also showed that the misleading press statementwas extracted from the petition that triggered the investigation withoutreference to the records of the investigation and statements made by theorganizations invited.The ICPC has been in a dilemma since the husband and wife cabal’sinvolvement was exposed because though it should set the records straightthat would gravely bring its independence in investigating corrupt practicesto a questionable perception by the general public.This unforgivable act started with the acting chairman in charge and has
continued unchecked.The said official at the center of this amorous affair boasts of his closenessto one of the highest offices in the Presidency (Not the office of thePresident), he confided in close friends that whatever he wants will happenin the ICPC and so far he has succeeded unimpeded.The question pertinently begging for an answer is if the acting chairman inICPC is aware of this secret union and what he has done to ensure that ananticorruption agency of the federal government is not run from a familymeeting room and decisions taken by the ICPC are not influenced bypersonal interestThe absence of the board of the Commission which was approved by theSenate but is yet to be inaugurated is blamed by staff for the rampant actsof indiscipline and privatization of official functions by the husband-and-wifecabal.
