It’s wrong to say all Nigerians are corrupt – ICPC chairman, Owasanoye

Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), emphasized that it is inaccurate to categorize all Nigerians as corrupt, particularly in financial or other transactions.

Addressing the audience at the Behaviour Change Conference and Exhibition 2023 in Abuja on Wednesday, November 15, Owasanoye shared that his experiences have taught him that not every Nigerian engages in corrupt practices.

He said; 

“At one of the recent Policy Dialogues organised by the ICPC, two very vocal participants boisterously but erroneously maintained that Nigerians who are not corrupt are those who have not had the opportunity to abuse, or collude in the abuse, of public office, authority or position.

“This erroneous belief by relatively few people that all Nigerians are corrupt can be considered in the light of the traditional anti-corruption interventions in Nigeria and the recent efforts towards expanding the focus of anti-corruption interventions to include the behavioural change approach.

“From my experience in leading the anti-corruption fight at PACAC (Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption) and the ICPC, I can tell you categorically that not all Nigerians are corrupt.”