Four retired staff, and other officers who had displayed outstanding performance of their duties were recently honoured by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The Awards ceremony, which had three categories, Award for Retirees, Chairman’s Special Awards and Departmental/State Office Merit Awards for Diligence and Hard Work, took place during the Commission’s annual End-of-Year Party which held at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking at the event, the ICPC Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, congratulated all officers of the Commission for seeing the end of 2021 and prayed for many more years to come.
He specifically congratulated the retirees for “finishing strong” while encouraging staff to play their roles whether seen or not, as their reward would not elude them.
“The point to make is that everybody is adding value, and everybody is appreciated, and everybody is encouraged to continue to play their role”, he said.
Highlighting some of the achievements of the Commission in out-going year, the Chairman mentioned the certification of four document examiners/handwriting and Polygraph experts including the third female handwriting expert in the country; the opening of 3 new state offices; construction of prototype buildings in the states’ offices; recruitment of new staff; and the completion of the auditorium which he attributed to the hard work of the Procurement Unit.
Furthermore, he noted that the professionalism of the work of investigators earned the Commission an award for “Diligent Investigation” at the Annual Security and Emergency Management Awards (SAEMA).
The Chairman also hinted at some of the new innovations expected to commence in the coming year including capacity building, the enforcement of “orderly room trial” and detention of unruly staff as this was a practice in law enforcement agencies.
He assured staff of his commitment to those who were hardworking and promised a continuous effort to make life and working conditions better for them.
He concluded by praying for and advising staff “to shine like the stars you are”.
Also speaking at the event, both the Secretary to the Commission, Prof. Musa Usman Abubakar, and the Director, Administration and Human Resources, Dr. Bala Mohammed reiterated the fact that the annual event of honouring retirees for meritorious service as well as recognition of serving officers who had distinguished themselves in their schedules of duties during the year had come to stay.
The 2021 retirees were Mr. Mike Ayo Sowe (Director, Chairman’s Office), Mr. Ayo Adesanya Abdulwasiu, Mr. Bassey Godswill and Mr. Isikuem Emmanuel.
Three officers received the Chairman’s Special Award for specially assisting the Chairman diligently and consistently, while forty-one others from the headquarters and state offices received awards for meritorious service.
The event also featured the official presentation of the SAEMA award for “Diligent Investigation” which had been received by the Commission’s Spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, to the Chairman.
The event took place at the newly renovated auditorium of ICPC and had in attendance retirees, staff, Board Members, and their families.
