The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN) has based an award for championing anti-corruption reforms.

A press statement by the ICPC Head, Media and Public Communications, John Odey, Thursday in Abuja, said Aliyu bagged the award at 4th Economic Confidential Annual Lecture and 6th National Spokespersons Awards in Abuja, with the theme: “Anti-Corruption Reforms, Economic Stability and Effective Communication”.

He said giving a keynote address,  the ICPC chairman charged public relations officers and journalists to bring accuracy and fairness to their crisis-management and reporting duties.

This is as he warned that irresponsible messaging on the scale of corruption in Nigeria can backfire and inadvertently normalise the very conduct it seeks to condemn.

Aliyu described strategic communication as one of the most underestimated tools in the fight against corruption, telling the gathering of spokespersons, editors and communication professionals that citizens cannot support reforms they neither understand nor trust.

The Chairman commended the National Spokespersons Awards, organised by Economic Confidential, for recognising excellence in public communication, which he described as indispensable to national development.

He disclosed that the ICPC has adopted this approach in its own public enlightenment work, tying its messaging to tangible outcomes and working through trusted, credible messengers such as traditional, religious and community leaders to sustain public confidence and citizen reporting.

The Chairman also urged stakeholders and policy shapers at the event to look back to their educational roots and draw on their own life journeys as living references for integrity, saying such examples could help revive public hope in the system and anchor a more sustainable future.

He said the Commission is consolidating related school-based interventions into a National Schools Integrity Programme, arguing that while enforcement addresses the symptoms of corruption, only a change in values addresses its cause, and that integrity must become Nigeria’s national culture rather than merely a legal obligation.

The event, chaired by the President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr Ike Neliaku, featured awards recognising outstanding spokespersons in the public and private sectors across Nigeria.