ICPC traces N500bn under-performed projects in five years

The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) has disclosed that the commission’s Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Group (CEPTG) has traced over N500bn underperformed projects from 176 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) since 2019.

ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, SAN, stated this in Lagos on Monday, explaining that the tracking focused on critical sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, and infrastructure,, spanning 26 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Adamu explained that the initiative was to ensure that government funds are directed towards impactful projects that benefit the most vulnerable Nigerians.

He said the 2024 Phase 6 exercise, which commenced in November 2023 and ran through the first quarter of 2024, had recovered N219bn and had covered the health, agriculture, education, water resources, and power sectors in 26 states and the FCT, and that the exercise was still ongoing.

Adamu said, “These are under performed projects, shoddily executed projects, abandoned projects, certification of projects as completed when such projects have not been completed and hoarding of projects such as empowerment projects meant to be distributed to intended beneficiaries to empower them or serve to alleviate their poverty were hoarded, while some other items were distributed through proxies. It was observed that some agencies were in the habit of handing over empowerment items to stakeholders for onward distribution to the intended beneficiaries. This practice encouraged hoarding and politicisation of the empowerment sharing processes

“To stem the tide of empowerment items being converted to personal use or for personal aggrandisement, and to engender value for money on government funds as well as for impactful socio-economic development of the citizenry, relevant MDAs have been mandated to invite ICPC to monitor the distribution of empowerment items on their budget.

“Other findings are: Projects in which contractors returned to sites, 176; appropriations for all tracked projects, N220 billion; contracts value of all projects tracked, N285 billion; value of projects on which contractors returned to sites, 30 billion; cash recoveries made so far, N163 million; recoveries made in assets, so far, N513.3 million; recoveries made, cash and assets, N676 million and cumulative savings to government, N30 billion.”

Commenting on why the commission opted for a plea bargain, the ICPC Chairman said it saves time, money and helped the government to recover stolen or diverted funds.

Highlighting achievements recorded in the maritime sector, he said the commission, in collaboration with other agencies, conducted a corruption risk assessment of key Nigerian seaports and that the assessment identified vulnerabilities.

“These vulnerabilities led to the development of measures to improve transparency and accountability in the sector. These measures include: Standardised Operating Procedures (SOPs): Consistent procedures for all government agencies operating at the ports. Port Service Support Portal (PSSP): A web-based platform for addressing business complaints and grievances.

“Nigerian Port Process Manual (NPPM): A step-by-step guide to port operations promoting compliance and transparency. An enforcement team (Ports Standing Task Team – PSTT) was established to ensure adherence to these measures,” he added.

The chairman further explained that efforts led to 19 investigations and about 50 arrests in 2023.