The Bayelsa State Government has lamented that petitions by Bayelsans to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) are more than those from other states.
Peter Akpe, Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, who made the comment on Tuesday in Yenagoa, cautioned the people against writing frivolous petitions to anti-graft agencies.
A statement by Doubara Atasi, Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Deputy Governor, said the Bayelsa State Number Two citizen reaffirmed the zero tolerance for corruption posture of the state government.
According to the statement, Akpe made the comments while receiving Ekere Usiere, the Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in charge of Bayelsa and Rivers States, in Yenagoa.
Akpe said the general perception of those in politics has always been that of corruption, but noted that the position of the Governor Douye Diri-led Prosperity Administration is not tolerant towards corruption.
He frowned at Bayelsans, who are in the habit of writing unfounded petitions against individuals and groups, saying the heap of petition files from Bayelsa State at the ICPC was several times higher than those from any other state in the country.
Akpe reminded residents that writing unjustifiable petitions to anti-graft agencies is not only a bad culture, but also attracts jail penalty, assuring the ICPC of the state government’s support to improve public enlightenment.
“Our government is a government that believes in zero tolerance for corruption; that is why we are always open to interact with you and other anti-graft agencies.
He said, “Usually, there is this issue of negative perception of politics and politicians. But it is not true that every politician is corrupt. We have a good number of people in politics that are not corrupt. And we believe that a good percentage of them are in this government.
“The issue of petitions at the ICPC: What we observed was that the heap of files from Bayelsa were 10 times higher than the ones from even Lagos, and 15 more times than the ones from Sokoto and other States.
“That is quite disturbing. More so, most of those petitions were frivolous. From a personal experience, I can tell you that most of the petitions are extremely frivolous. While we will never tolerate corruption, our people should also know that such frivolous petitions can land them in jail.”
Earlier in her remarks, Ekere Usiere, ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner in charge of Rivers and Bayelsa States, highlighted the statutory mandate of the ICPC, stressing that its mission is to carry out sensitisation on the ills of corruption in the country.
Usiere expressed concern at the volume of petitions currently before the ICPC emanating from communities in Bayelsa State over the management of the PIA funds.
She also expressed the commission’s desire to partner the Bayelsa State Ministry of Information, Orientation and Strategy to carry out sensitisation programmes to discourage the people from writing frivolous petitions.
Usiere was accompanied on the visit by Evans Peters, Assistant Chief Superintendent, Emmanuel Akpor, Principal Superintendent, Tamaraudoubra Ebebi, Assistant Superintendent, and Frank Yileaziba, Administrative Officer.
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