The Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, the ICPC Academy, was established pursuant to Section 6 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 which empowers the Commission to carry out preventive, enforcement and enlightenment functions. By Virtue of the provisions of section 6 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, the Commission is empowered to:
- Receive and investigate complaints from members of the public on allegations of corrupt practices and in appropriate cases prosecute the offenders.
- Examine the practices, systems and procedures of public bodies and where in the opinion of the Commission, such practices systems or procedures aid or facilitate fraud or corruption, to direct and supervise a review of them.
- Instruct, advice and assist any officer, agency or parastatal on ways by which fraud or corruption may be eliminated or minimized by such officer, agency or parastatal.
- Advice heads of public bodies of any changes in practices, systems or procedures compatible with the effective discharge of the duties of the public bodies as the Commission thinks fit, to reduce the likelihood or incidence of bribery, corruption and related offences.
- Educate the public on and against bribery, corruption and related offences and
- Enlist and foster public support in combating corruption.
In order to carry out the above mandate effectively, the Commission must train its officers and other people who will assist in eradicating corruption in the society. The Commission can do this either by spending huge sums of money on training programmes designed by other institutions which might not strictly meet its requirements or establish an outfit which is designed to meet the skills needed for the fight against corruption. This second option is more cost effective, hence the establishment of the Academy.