ICPC secures N29.7bn cash, tracks N610bn government projects in one year

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Aliyu, said Tuesday that the agency has recovered over N29.7 billion in cash and made significant progress in tracking government projects worth N610 billion across the nation in the last one year.

Mr Musa, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), spoke at the ‘End of Year Engagement and One Year in Office’ in Abuja.

“Through its Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTI), the Commission continues to ensure accountability in government funds and deliver tangible benefits of democracy to citizens across Nigeria.

“The Commission just completed the tracking of 1,500 projects, valued at N610 billion, nationwide under CEPTI Phase 7. Also, the commission recovered N29.700 billion in cash, domiciled in ICPC recovery accounts,” he said.

Mr Musa said the commission also recovered N10.986 billion in value-added tax (VAT) and remitted it to FIRS.

Other recoveries

The ICPC chairman said his agency recovered N10 billion meant for COVID-19 vaccine production and returned it to the treasury.

He said the commission also recovered $966,900.83 in foreign currency and has kept it in ICPC’s Central Bank of Nigeria account.

He said the commission finalised the forfeiture of assets valued at N2.5 billion and blocked the diversion of public funds amounting to N5.882 billion.

Strengthening systems and governance

Mr Musa explained that his agency has made significant institutional reforms, including the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard (EICS), which assessed 323 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

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He further added that the initiative, alongside the establishment of 80 Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTUs), reinforced accountability frameworks across public institutions.

“We are not just focused on enforcement but also prevention,” the Chairman stated. “Our collaboration with key stakeholders ensures a holistic approach to tackling corruption.”

Petition and prosecution

Mr Musa said in the last year, the commission processed 851 petitions, fully investigated 95 cases and filed 72 cases in court, securing 16 convictions.

He also noted that the commission has revived cases that had been dormant for a decade to ensure justice.

He said the commission has intensified its campaign against sexual harassment, fostering a culture of accountability and empowering victims to report cases.

He also mentioned that public engagement efforts reached over 1.45 million Nigerians through various platforms, including the newly launched “Transparency Files” television programme and the youth-driven digital platform, Ethics Pod.

Calls for aggressive campaign

In his keynote address, the Commissioner of Sierra Leone’s Anti-corruption Commission (ACC), Francis Kaifala, called for a regional action to tackle corruption in Africa.

He said Nigeria’s corruption fight has inspired his country to improve its legal framework in the fight against corruption.

Mr Kaifala noted that the United Nations data indicated that Africa loses $88.6 billion yearly to corruption, while $2 trillion is lost to bribery alone, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He mentioned that the stolen money would have been enough to eradicate hunger and malaria and provide basic education worldwide—a combined cost of $150 billion.

“Public revenues are siphoned off from schools, roads, and hospitals to line the pockets of people up to no good,” Mr Kaifala noted, referencing IMF findings on Sierra Leone’s Multi-Pronged Approach

Reform procurement processes to tackle corruption

Speaking at the event, the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Adebowale Adedokun, has reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s procurement system.

Mr Adedokun called on anti-corruption leaders to collaborate in order to combat inefficiencies and corruption that hinder national development.

“When I resumed duty as the DG of BPP, the ICPC chairman asked me, DG, at what point do you help me look at my procurement process? And at what point do you tell me to my face I am not doing it rightly, or I am doing it rightly? That, for me, is a signal of what a chief executive should do. And that is the mark of your celebration. The fact that you send out a signal that, DG, I would like you to help me evaluate my procurement process, comes up to me,” he said.

He described corruption as a monster because it undermines Nigeria’s growth and development.

“That is the only way we are going to say to those who we are superintending, those who we are calling to answer for what we do, is by first setting the right tone and the right direction. So, my good brother, when we meet together, we will collaborate with you as we are certain we will confront every aspect of why we don’t have good rules. We will face the battle of why our medical institutions are not up to speed,” he said.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported that a malaria project for which the Nigerian government took a $100 million loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) stalled due to procurement fraud.

Cost of corruption

In his remark, the President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Ike Neliaku, called on all stakeholders to tackle the menace of corruption.

He lamented that corruption is killing Nigeria on a daily basis because Nigeria lost an estimated $100 billion to corruption between 1974 and 1999, a 25-year period before the Fourth Republic.

However, he said in the 25 years of democracy from 1999 to 2023, the country has lost a staggering $750 billion to corruption.

“These figures are not ours,” Mr Neliaku emphasised. “They are sourced from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, and several other reputable organizations. The data shows that corruption has become more dangerous, with its ‘wages’ growing increasingly appealing.”

In their goodwill messages, the chairman of the EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, and the Chairman of the Body of Benchers, Adegboyega Awomolo, agreed that corruption can only be tackled if all anti-corruption agencies work together.