The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission recovered about N8.7bn in 2016.
The Chairman of the commission, Mr. Ekpo Nta, said this in his presentation at a media parley on Monday in Abuja.
He noted that corruption in organisations was normally fuelled by weak internal control, poor record-keeping and poor supervision.
Nta, in the presentation titled ‘ICPC 2016 activities at a glance’, stated that the recovered funds included “N6bn frozen in Infrastructure Bank; N698.4m; N292m in the TSA (Treasury Single Account) Recovery Account; N1.6bn pension fund as well as the N20m from the NSITF(Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund) Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society and others.”
He added, “Out of N698,450,000; N668,593,621.60 was refunded to the Kano State Government from SURE-P (Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme) funds; the balance of the recovery is for the extorted students of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and other victims.”
According to him, N1.69bn includes the pension money paid to the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management beneficiaries and others.
Nta added that the ICPC, in 2016, recovered 124 vehicles from public officers in the SURE-P and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
He said 40 of the vehicles had been handed over to the ministry of water resources, which hitherto did not have operational vehicles.
The ICPC chairman stated that the commission would continue to recover vehicles from retired public officers, who are fond of converting government properties to their personal uses.
He said the commission received a total of 1,569 petitions in 2016, adding that the North-Central (including Abuja) recorded the highest number with 782.
According to him, the North-Central is followed by the South-West with 295 petitions; South-South, 201; North-West, 118, South East, 106; the North-East, 62; the United Kingdom, four and the United States, 1.
He added that over 700 petitions were received by the commission in 2016 from the private sector, followed by government establishments with over 150.
Nta said in 2016, the ICPC filed 70 cases and secured 11 convictions.
“Collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Interior, involving investigation/verification of certificates, is ongoing,” he added
Nta explained that the ICPC strategies in fighting corruption included enforcement and prevention, stressing that enforcement involved litigation, prosecution and sanction.
“While enforcement is suitable for individual cases of infractions, prevention of corruption through system reforms is the way to go! Justification for this is simple!. Reforms create overall system change and enduring re-orientation in society,” he stated.
As part of measures to prevent corruption, the ICPC boss said the commission had carried out system study and review in the Gombe State Board of Internal Revenue; the Niger Delta University; National Examination Commission and the Bureau of Public Enterprises.
According to him, system weaknesses that could fuel corruption in the organisations had been identified and corrected.
He said the ICPC had begun the same processes in the Ekiti State Board of Internal Revenue at the request of the state government; the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria; the Industrial Training Fund and the National Broadcasting Commission.
He said the compliance review of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board; the Bwari Area Council; the Directorate of Road and Traffic Services and the Federal Capital Water Board was in progress.
Nta said some officers at the federal capital territory’s agencies were richer than their organisations; hence the need for the review.
Commission begins TSA, IPIS corruption risk assessment
The ICPC boss disclosed that the commission had commenced “corruption risk assessment of e-governance platforms such as the TSA, GIFMI (Government Integrated Financial Management Information) and IPIS (Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System).”
He added that the ICPC had started monitoring recruitment and promotion in the Federal Civil Service.
He stated, “The biggest one now is the recruitment that took place officially and unofficially. We got quite a number of people that claimed they had been thrown out on the directive of the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission. We invited over 100 of them to our office and asked them questions.
“One was asked, ‘How did you get your letter of appointment? The young lady said he fasted for seven days and she got a letter of appointment. We asked, ‘Where did you get the letter?’ She said she got it in a garden here in Abuja.”
Agency plans corruption index for MDAs
Nta added that the commission had mini-ICPS in 427 federal and state ministries, departments and agencies, stating that it had designed and deployed ethics and compliance score cards in 20 pilot MDAs.
“The compliance score card is to rank the MDAs like Transparency International. Which agency is perceived to be most corrupt? When we publish that, those agencies will redress their problems,” he stated.
Nta also said the commission had trained civil societies in budget monitoring, adding that whistle-blowing guide had been developed for MDAs.
‘Our stake in budget padding probe’
The ICPC boss explained the commission’s position on a petition submitted by a former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin.
He recalled that Jibrin submitted the same petition to the ICPC; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; the Department of State Services and the police.
Nta said all the four agencies could not be working on the budget padding issue in the same way.
He stated, “We are a system organisation. We are looking at the entire process. What would have happened? How did it happen? We are doing these under our system study, while others are looking at enforcement. Our own contribution is that it will never happen again because of the new process we are going to put in place. We have different levels of engagement in matters like this.”
On the call for the merger of the ICPC and the EFCC, he cited the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which he said indicated that countries should establish independent and well-funded anti-graft bodies.
He said the convention mandated countries to set up specialised anti-corruption agencies such as the EFCC and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Punch
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