Technology key to curbing corruption and illicit financial flows – ICPC Boss

Professor Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN), Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), has identified the adoption of technology as essential in combating corruption and illicit financial flows (IFF).

Professor Owasanoye revealed this during a demo hacking solution presentation by seven innovators at ICPC headquarters in Abuja. The Illicit Financial Flows Hackathon is an initiative of the ICPC and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), with support from the Ford Foundation in West Africa.

The demo hacking solution aims to curb corruption and IFF in the Nigerian government budget and ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) procurement processes.

In his welcoming address, the ICPC Chairman said the role of technology in carrying out the Commission’s mission to investigate and prosecute violations of the law cannot be underestimated.

he said: Over the past three years, the Commission has invested in technology to strengthen its forensic competence, training staff in digital document analysis, handwriting analysis, polygraph techniques, and a variety of skills.

“Over the past 15 years, governments in general have invested in technology to combat corruption, particularly through prevention. Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Government Integrated Financial Management System (GIFMIS), Treasury Single Account (TSA) The Open Treasury Portal (OTP), the establishment of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Bank Verification Number (BVN) initiating the role of the private sector have contributed in no small way to reducing corruption.”

He stressed that law enforcement agencies need to work together to deploy more technology to help reduce money laundering opportunities.

“The deployment of appropriate technology would have given law enforcement, administrators and process regulators ample power to know what school feeding funds are being used for. The pervasiveness of technology makes this very possible: Platforms like this not only help thrive anomalies and save governments a lot of money, but they also help prevent abuse, corruption and money laundering.” he added.

At the IFF Hackathon, Professor Owasanoe will leverage emerging technologies to unlock opportunities for youth creativity and entrepreneurship to combat corruption and other unethical practices that negatively impact the country’s socioeconomic destiny. I explained that I provided

He assured the anti-corruption agency, NITDA, and the Ford Foundation to further work on the demo hacking solution presented by the young innovator.

“The demo hacking solution will be further explored and fine-tuned, the demo will be developed, and then the tests will be run,” he said.

Education Minister Malam Adam Adam advocated a clear policy by the government in combating corruption.

The minister, headed by deputy director Qasim Ibrahim, said the funds recovered from the proceeds of corruption would be used by the government to address critical needs.

In his remarks at the hackathon, NITDA Executive Director Qasim Inuwa Abdullahi said the innovative ideas would help realize the objectives of the government’s digital transformation agenda.

“This initiative is related to the three pillars of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy’s National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).

“The relevant pillars are digital innovation and entrepreneurship, the promotion of indigenous content on the NDEPS side, emerging technologies and digital transformation, and the SRAP side on the development and promotion of digital services, the development and adaptation of indigenous content, digital society and emerging technologies,” said Abdullahi, represented by Oladeji Olayemi.

Dr. Chichi Aniagolu Okoye, Regional Director of the Ford Foundation (West Africa Office), expressed the Foundation’s excitement about the hackathon idea as it is critical to the country’s fight against corruption.

She praised the ICPC for starting the project, adding that the commission had rebuilt her confidence in the government’s capabilities.

She congratulated the participants for their innovative ideas.

A highlight of the program was the presentation of demo hacking solutions by seven innovators as digital answers to reduce corruption in school feeding programs.

Young innovators were tasked with coming up with well-defined ideas and prototype solutions to checkmate IFF, with a focus on leveraging new technologies.

Three winners emerged after the demo and received prizes of varying amounts.

Here are the winners: Runner-up, Expose Solution. The runner-up is IFFMER, and the winner is E-procure.

Prof. Owasanoye and Dr. Aniagolu presented prize money of N500,000, N1 million and N1.5 million respectively to representatives of Expose Solution, IFFMER and E-procure.

Signature: Mrs. Ogugua Azka

Spokesperson, ICPC