Imo State office of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has identified efficient and accountable service delivery as the panacea to graft ravaging the public sector.
This assertion was made by an Assistant Commissioner in Imo state office, Mrs Chinwe Egbeocha, at a sensitization programme recently organised by the Commission for staff of Imo State Internal Revenue Services (IIRS).
Egbeocha stated that lack of accountability in the public sector could degenerate into corruption with negative consequences, pointing out that public servants, instead of discharging their functions as development centres, have acquired a reputation for corruption, fiscal indiscipline, and overall irresponsibility.
She noted the role of IIRS as an important government agency that helps make governance possible, by ensuring that government revenues are collected to fund essential programmes and services. She further stated that many governments all over the world have through taxation ensured that resources are mobilised and channeled towards funding public services, infrastructure, and other development and poverty reduction goals.
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She, however, observed that corruption is a challenge in tax administration and management in Nigeria, and due to the lack of knowledge of taxpayers regarding tax laws, tax officers take advantage of this inadequacy to use their power and threats to extort illicit payments from tax-payers.
The Assistant Commissioner lamented that corruption is a disease, which eats into the political, cultural, and economic growth of any country and destroys the functioning of various organs of the government, pointing out that ICPC was established to eradicate the scourge.
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