The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Hajia Binta Bello has expressed delight at the positive results from the collaboration between the aviation sector and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
The Permanent Secretary expressed the delight in Lagos recently, while delivering the keynote address at the stakeholders’ inception meeting on Anti-Corruption measures in the aviation sector organized by the ICPC which has in attendance, the body’s chairman, Mr Ekpo Nta.
Hajia Binta Bello, who was accompanied by the directors of Human Resources Abubakar Tsafe and director of Audit, jibrin Manigi, of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and chief executives of Parastatals under the ministry, stated that the huge potential of the Nigerian aviation industry could only be actualized in an environment that is corrupt-free, that upholds high ethical standards and complies fully with international best practices.
She said as part of efforts to sustain growth, confidence and transparency in the aviation industry, the Ministry has signed an M.O.U with the ICPC in December 2014, which has culminated into the deployment of ICPC staff for surveillance activities at the major airports, undercover operations for detection of infractions, and mandatory training of selected staff of the Ministry’s agencies and other stakeholders on ethics, professional standards and moral values at the ICPC Anti-Corruption Academy (ACAN).
The Permanent Secretary stated further that in practical terms, the collaboration with ICPC has contributed immensely to the drastic reduction in the activities of touts and unscrupulous elements at the nation’s airports.
Hajia Bello, while advising the ICPC to sustain the tempo of its surveillance activities at the airports, assured the Commission of the Ministry’s total support and also implored sister agencies at the airports to do same.

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Aviation, Hajia Binta Bello,

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman of ICPC, Mr Ekpo Nta stated that the Corruption Risk Assessment in the Aviation sector inception meeting for stakeholders has brought together key drivers to deliberate and implement strategies developed to fight the menace.
Speaking also, the managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr. Saleh Dunoma expressed confidence that this collaboration will yield the needed results.
Dunoma said FAAN had deployed several strategies in the past and will continue to support efforts at helping the Authority achieve its mandate of a safe, secure and customer centric airports.
In the course of the programme, there were goodwill messages from the director general of the NCAA, Capt Muktar Usman and heads of other aviation agencies.
The session later featured business sessions where the Police, Customs, Immigration, NDLEA, Port Health, and other stakeholders discussed strategies for implementation.