THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and 12 other federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have been rated non-compliant, recording zero scores in the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS) assessment conducted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The damning outcome was contained in an official publication released by the anti-corruption agency on Wednesday obtained by News Point Nigeria, detailing the performance of 357 MDAs assessed during the 2025 evaluation exercise.
According to the report, NNPC ranked last overall, scoring zero across all four key governance pillars, thereby placing it at the top of institutions classified as high-risk for ethical and integrity failures.
The ICPC explained that the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard is a diagnostic and accountability tool designed to strengthen transparency, ethical conduct, and institutional resilience within Nigeria’s public sector.
The scorecard evaluates MDAs based on four core pillars:
Management Culture and Structure
Financial Management Systems
Administrative Systems
Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU)
These indicators collectively measure how well institutions comply with established ethical standards, internal controls, and anti-corruption frameworks.
For the 2025 assessment year, the scorecard was deployed across 360 federal MDAs, with three agencies exempted, leaving 357 institutions subjected to full evaluation.
Presenting the findings earlier on Tuesday, ICPC Chairman, Dr Aliyu Musa, represented by the Director of the Systems Study and Review Department, Mr Olusegun Adigun, said the exercise revealed deep-seated weaknesses in ethical standards and governance structures across the public service.
According to the breakdown:
48 MDAs (13.95%) recorded substantial compliance
132 MDAs (38.37%) achieved partial compliance
141 MDAs (40.99%) showed poor compliance
23 MDAs (6.69%) were classified as non-compliant
Notably, no single MDA achieved full compliance, a situation the ICPC described as deeply concerning.
Adigun further disclosed that 13 MDAs were non-responsive during the assessment process and were consequently categorised as high-risk institutions.
The ICPC publication showed that NNPC leads the list of the 13 high-risk agencies that failed to respond or scored zero.
Other MDAs listed include:
Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja
Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Jos
National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Abuja
Federal Medical Centre, Hong, Adamawa State
University of Calabar
Cross River Basin Development Authority, Calabar
Federal College of Education, Obudu
Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Benue
National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos
National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike
Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin
Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State
In contrast, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) emerged as the highest-rated MDA, scoring 91.83, followed by agencies such as:
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission (NDIC)
Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON)
Bank of Industry (BoI)
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NMDPRA) ranked 278th, with a score of 38.25, indicating partial compliance.
The ICPC warned that MDAs with consistently low integrity scores or those that fail to respond to assessments will face profiling, system studies, and enforcement actions.
“This is to ensure and encourage MDAs’ compliance with government statutes, policies, and directives to promote integrity, accountability, efficiency and productivity in government business,” the commission stated.
It added that persistent non-compliance would attract appropriate sanctions under existing laws.
News Point Nigeria reached out to the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Prof Tunji Olaopa, for comments, but text messages and WhatsApp chat sent to him were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
Also, efforts to obtain a reaction from NNPC were unsuccessful as the company’s spokesperson, Andy Odeh, could not be reached at the time of filing this report. Calls to his phone went unanswered, and messages sent to him were not returned.