Nigeria finds it difficult to attract investors to the country due to low integrity and high corruption, the Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, has said.

He spoke during the 11th annual summit of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria (APBN) in Abuja.

The ICPC chief noted that Nigeria was on life support, adding that if the country were a corporation it would have folded up.

Owasanoye: “The problems that we have are that professional associations do not enforce the rules for their members who break the code.

“Nigeria is on life support; thanks to us and if Nigeria were to be a corporation it would have wound up.”

According to him, if Nigeria is to achieve its dream of a sustainable economic growth as a nation, integrity should be the cornerstone of every professional practice and professional bodies.

He lamented that one cannot deny the fact that many professionals in Nigeria faced an ethical dilemma because the environment was characterised by endemic corruption that made almost everybody vulnerable to corruption and money laundering.

Owasanoye explained that if the business climate was good on integrity and the professional side was strong on ethics, investors would be willing to take the risk.

According to the ICPC boss, professional bodies can overcome this vulnerability by developing a code of ethics and enforcing the code by punishing violators.

He said regulators of each professional body must in collaboration with APBN develop an ethical culture through effective communication, training and discipline and constant oversight and improvement of the environment of operations.

Owasanoye said: “The motivation to do wrong is very high because professional code of ethics are not implemented by those saddled with the responsibility whether they be the officers of the professional body or regulators partly because the rules allow for discretion or because they are implicated. The result is that erring professionals easily rationalise their actions.

“Experience, however, shows that a person, professional or business that chooses the path of integrity will always appear short-changed but only in the short term. Such are vindicated in the long term if they stay the course.”

President of APBN, Akinloye Oyegbola said the summit provided an avenue for her 30 member-bodies to come together to brainstorm on issues of concern to the nation and proffering appropriate and enduring solutions to them.