THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has tracked N219.84 billion to contractors and ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.
The infractions involve 1,355 contractors and 176 MDAs.
At a media briefing with journalists in Lagos State on Monday, April 29, the ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, said the findings resulted from the commission’s ‘Phase 6 of the Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Initiative (CEPTI).
“The Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Group (CEPTG) has tracked a total of N219,843,922,945.48 across 176 ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) since its inception in 2019.
“This tracking exercise focuses on critical sectors like education, agriculture, healthcare, and infrastructure, spanning 26 states and the FCT across all 6 Geo-political Zones,” he said.
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The ICIR reports that the initiative is to ensure government funds are directed towards impactful projects that benefit the most vulnerable Nigerians.
According to the ICPC boss, the phase 6 tracking exercise, which commenced in November 2023 and continued through the first quarter of this year, is ongoing.
He promised to make the final report public.
“Finally, we want to assure Nigerians that ICPC in discharge of its enforcement mandate is committed to adherence to the rule of law and international best practices in the investigation and prosecution of persons suspected to have committed corrupt practices,” Aliyu said.
The CEPTI, conceived in April 2019 as a preventive and intervention measure, is initiated to tackle corruption and, among other things, engender good governance, transparency, and accountability within the body polity. It focuses on how well monies allocated to critical sectors by the government are utilised.
Having investigated some infractions identified on funded projects, Aliyu hinted that the commission had instituted cases against some suspects.
In his presentation, the head of the Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Department (CEPTG), Jimoh Sulahiman, said 1,721 government-funded projects were tracked within the phase 6 tracking cycle and that the commission was conducting further investigations into some infractions discovered.
He pointed out that the infractions included underperformance, shoddy execution, abandonment and certification of projects when not completed.
Sulahiman said ICPC recovered N163 million in cash and N515.3 million in assets and had saved the government N30 billion cumulatively.
He noted that some contractors had returned to sites to perfect projects valued at N30 billion.
He explained further that N220 billion was appropriations for all the tracked projects, and N285 was the contract value of all the projects tracked.
Appropriation for the tracked projects was N19.55 billion in 2020. It increased by 42 per cent to N92.72 billion in 2021 and by 47 per cent to N107.58 billion in 2022.
“A total of 1,721 projects were tracked within the focal sectors of education, water resources, agriculture, power and health, energy, and roads. These projects were awarded to a total of 1,355 contractors in 176 MDAs,” Sulahiman stressed.
In 2020, appropriation for the tracked projects was N19.55 billion, which increased by 42 per cent to N92.72 billion in 2021 and by 47 per cent to N107.58 billion in 2022.
Several reports on constituency projects by The ICIR point to shoddy execution by government agencies, contractors and their cronies at the detriment of the masses and the nation’s development.