NNPC, UNICAL, and numerous federal MDAs fail ethics, integrity evaluation – ICPC report

By Eteteonline

According to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission’s (ICPC) 2025 evaluation, the majority of federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) failed important ethics and compliance requirements, with the Supreme Court receiving a perfect score.

Launched in 2015 and completely institutionalized in 2019, the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard tracks ethics, compliance, and integrity throughout Nigeria’s public sector. By assessing internal control units, the ACTU Effectiveness Index enhances the EICS.

Nigeria’s Supreme Court and fourteen other agencies failed the 2024 evaluation, indicating persistent worries about operational irregularities and corruption.

According to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission’s Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and twelve other Federal Government ministries, departments, and agencies scored zero in 2025.

In a report released by the ICPC on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, the NNPC is ranked bottom out of the 357 MDAs that were examined, with a score of zero on each of the four major pillar indicators.

ICPC chairperson Musa Aliyu disclosed the results at a press conference in Abuja. MDAs are vulnerable to financial mismanagement, procurement distortions, and project failures due to inadequate administrative systems, inefficient internal control units, and inadequate whistleblowing frameworks, Mr. Aliyu cautioned.

According to the ICPC advertisement, the NNPC is at the top of the list of 13 MDAs considered to have “high corruption.”  The following are also included:

1. The Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Jos;
2. The Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja;
3. The National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Abuja;
4. The Federal Medical Centre, Hong, Adamawa State;
5. The University of Calabar;
6. The Cross River Basin Development Authority, Calabar;
7. The Federal College of Education, Obudu, Cross River;
8. The Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Benue;
9. The National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos, Plateau State;
10. The National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Abia State;
11. The Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin, Kwara State; and
12. The Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State.

The findings were derived from the commission’s 2025 Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS) and the ACTU Effectiveness Index (AEI), which evaluate the efficacy of internal control systems and adherence to ethical norms across federal MDAs.