The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and 12 other federal government agencies have been ranked as non-compliant in the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS) released by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The ICPC assessed 357 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) and found that the NNPC scored zero across all four key pillar indicators, ranking last among the assessed agencies.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) emerged as the highest-rated agency, scoring 91.83. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission scored 38.25, ranking 278th on the list. The EICS is a diagnostic and accountability tool aimed at strengthening transparency, ethical conduct, and institutional resilience within Nigeria’s public sector.
The ICPC Chairman, Dr Aliyu Musa, stated that the assessment revealed widespread weaknesses in ethical standards and institutional integrity across government agencies. Only 48 MDAs (13.95%) recorded substantial compliance, while 132 MDAs (38.37%) achieved partial compliance, and 141 MDAs (40.99%) showed poor compliance. A total of 23 MDAs (6.69%) were classified as non-compliant, and 13 MDAs were non-responsive and consequently classified as high-risk institutions.
The list of high-risk institutions includes the NNPC, the Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Jos, and the Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja, among others. On the other hand, the top-compliant MDAs include the NUPRC, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission, and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.
The ICPC has stated that it will continue to administer the EICS to MDAs and threatened to profile MDAs with consistently low scores of non-compliance. This move aims to ensure compliance with government statutes, policies, and directives to promote integrity, accountability, efficiency, and productivity in government business. The NNPC’s poor performance in the EICS has raised concerns about the agency’s commitment to transparency and ethical conduct, and the ICPC’s next steps will be closely watched.