Anti-Bribery Management System Standard ‘ll Curb Corruption In Nigeria – Osunbor

The Anti-Bribery Management System Standard will go a long way in curbing corruption in Nigeria, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, the standard Chairman, has said.

Osunbor spoke at the meeting of the Project Committee on Anti-bribery Management System on Monday in Abuja.

He explained that the group had held several meetings to carefully consider, develop and make their inputs as the working draft progressed through various stages at the ISO.

“The final draft was concluded in May 2017 at the ISO plenary meeting in Quebec, Canada and subsequently adopted following balloting among member countries.

“At the last ISO plenary meeting in Shenzhen China in 2017, it was resolved that a handbook on the Anti-Bribery Management System Standard be issued for ease of utilisation of standard by users.

“I am happy to inform you that the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Governing Council has approved it as the Nigerian Industrial Standards-DNIS 901:2017.

“It is gratifying to observe that Nigeria is already ahead of most member countries,’’ Osunbor said.

Also, Mr Osita Aboloma, the Director-General of SON, said that the launch of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 37001 was borne out of the desire to proffer solutions to the national discourse on corruption in Nigeria, leveraging on standardisation tools.

“Since bribery is the most single contributory factor to corruption, the standard offers the country an opportunity to use this global tool to support the Federal Government’s fight against corruption.

“As you may be aware, fighting corruption in the country seems insurmountable and a herculean task that many administrations have not been able to overcome.

“This standard, alongside the Nigerian Industrial Standard on Good Governance (NIS 902:2017), can, therefore, be proactive tools to drastically reduce the incidence of corruption alongside the anti-corruption laws,’’ Aboloma said.

According to him, the organisation will push for the promotion and use of these standards by the Ministries, Departments and Parastatal Agencies with business entities, as a tool to fight and work toward eradication of corruption.

In his remarks, Mr Felix Nyado, the SON Director of Operations, said that the ISO was established in 2013 and was reviewed by 163 countries.

Nyado said that the benefits of the document would be used to benchmark or improve on anti-bribery programmes in Nigeria.

Other benefits, he said, would be to measure and evaluate the anti-bribery of business partners using a single yardstick and set expectation with their partners regarding preferred qualification or eligibility.

Nyado said that it would also minimise bribery lawsuits and enhance the awareness of anti-bribery programmes.