The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has recovered 95 vehicles from various government officials after the winding down of the activities of the defunct Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme, Sure-P.

This was made known during an inspection visit by the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption at the ICPC headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking during the inspection exercise, the ICPC Chairman, Ekpo Nta, explained that the recovery of the vehicles was an indication of the firm resolve of the Commission to tackle the various manifestations of corrupt practices perpetrated by some government officials.

He said that 40 of the vehicles were recovered from some retired officials of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

Akinloye Babajide, Chairman of the House Committee on anti-corruption, noted that the aim of the oversight visit was for his committee to have better knowledge of the role being played by the ICPC in the anti-corruption campaign as well as to offer support where necessary.

He commended the Commission for fostering a good image for Nigeria through its preventive initiatives against corruption.

Babajide urged the ICPC to do more with regards to making its achievements known to the public as according to him, majority of Nigerians are of the view that the commission was not doing much.

“The perception of ICPC not doing enough should be a thing of the past,” he said.

“With what I have seen, we want to contribute to the development of the Commission and eradicate wrong perceptions of ICPC.”

The ICPC Chairman told the lawmakers that the major objective of the mandate of the Commission was the prevention of corruption, adding that it was the thrust of what it was doing.

Nta said that corruption was an “opportunistic crime” and emphasis must be placed on eliminating the opportunities that lead people to engaging in corrupt acts.

“ICPC is interested in the development and deployment of high Information and communication technology, ICT, in government processes to achieve success with greater ease. This will be the height of our prevention activities”, he said.

Nta further explained to the legislators some of the preventive initiatives the ICPC has institutionalised which have saved Nigeria a lot of money.

According to him, some of the sectors that have benefitted from these initiatives include the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, as well as the Aviation and Education Sectors.

The ICPC boss, however noted, that more funding is required in the fight against corruption, as corrupt people were already wealthy enough to fight back.