Why fighting corruption is difficult in Nigeria – ICPC chairman

Corruption is difficult to fight in Nigeria because corrupt officials often manipulate the judicial process to escape sanction and protect the proceeds of corruption, the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Musa Aliyu (SAN), said Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Aliyu spoke at an engagement with northern Nigerian media editors, during which he highlighted the achievements of the ICPC under his leadership in 2023 and 2024.

Mr Aliyu lamented that corruption remains widespread in the Nigerian public sector despite the efforts of the anti-corruption agencies, stressing that fighting corruption in the country requires courage and the cooperation of citizens.

The ICPC boss cited the case of an agency where he said a hospital project was paid for five times.

“There was a case of a hospital that was paid 100 per cent five times. Yet, there was nothing to show for it.”

Mr Aliyu also gave another case where a government official allegedly listed his wife, son and an in-law on the payroll of his agency, even though the son was a student who had not attained working age.

“That tells you how bad the problem of corruption has become. We cannot continue like this. All of us should join hands to tackle corruption in this country. Fighting corruption is not easy because when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. Those involved in corruption are united in their evil. They try to lie against us in order to discredit what we are doing.

“But as a nation, all well-meaning members of the public must join hands to tackle corruption. We don’t have an option. If we don’t tackle corruption, our children will have no future. If we don’t fight corruption, those involved will wreck the economy, and we will all suffer for it.”

Mr Aliyu said the ICPC was collaborating with sister anti-graft agencies in Nigeria and other African countries to trace and repatriate assets stolen from the continent and kept overseas.

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He said the African Anti-Graft Forum was formed to strengthen the efforts to identify and recover the assets. He added that the forum was encouraging African experts to work with it in tracing the assets and assisting in their repatriation.

Media role

The ICPC boss urged the Nigerian media to see the anti-corruption war as a duty, adding that the nation needs to fight corruption if it must enjoy socio-economic development.

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Mr Aliyu said the ICPC adheres to the Proceeds of Crime Act in the management of recovered properties. He added that the commission had set up a committee of critical stakeholders, including Civil Society Organisations, the media, and government procurement experts, to ensure transparent public auctions of such assets.

According to a brochure circulated at the event, the anti-graft agency tracked 1,500 projects across the country with a total value of N610 billion and recovered N29.7 billion in stolen funds.

It recovered another N11 billion “from value intervention monetary advisory. He said the agency received 851 petitions, investigated 95 and filed 72 cases in court. The agency also secured 16 convictions within the period.