• Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
  • E-Book
Search
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
PRNIGERIA PRNigeria News
PRNIGERIA PRNIGERIA
  • Home
  • Anti-Corruption
  • Fact-Check
  • Economy
  • National
  • Security
  • Features
  • State
  • Event
  • E-Book
Home Anti-Corruption How ICPC Detected 257 Duplicated projects worth N20b in 2021 Budget
  • Anti-Corruption

How ICPC Detected 257 Duplicated projects worth N20b in 2021 Budget

By
Bolaji Owasanoye
-
November 30, 2021
ICPC
ICPC Logo

How ICPC Detected 257 Duplicated projects worth N20b in 2021 Budget

A speech by Prof Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN) SAN, Chairman ICPC at the 3RD National Summit on Diminishing Corruption and Presentation of Public Service and Integrity

ICPC is committed to supporting the programs and projects of government one of which is restraining the spiraling cost of governance. This is why the theme of this Summit is Corruption and the Cost of Governance: New Imperatives for Fiscal Transparency.

Your Excellency has publicly acknowledged a number of times that your government inherited a number of challenges since 2015 when you assumed office including but not limited to an empty purse and the lack of savings when the economy boomed. A major aspect was the astronomical cost of governance at the federal and sub national levels. This has continued to reflect in the huge wage bill on personnel and operational cost standing at about 70% of annual budget.

Your Excellency sir, a major push factor on high cost of governance and rising personnel budget is illegal recruitment, illegal and unilateral increase in wages and remuneration by some MDAs, indiscriminate local and international travels, unreasonable demands by some political appointee board members of MDAs without regard for extant circulars on cost management; procurement fraud, budget padding, etc. ICPC investigation of some cases of illegal recruitment forwarded to us by Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has so far implicated Ministry of Labour and the University College Hospital Ibadan and a number of corrupt staff of other MDAs at a lower level. This abuse of power is consummated with complicity of compromised elements in IPPIS. These cases are currently under investigation.

At another level, a syndicate of corrupt individuals within the service corruptly employ unsuspecting Nigerians, issue them fake letters of employment, fraudulently enroll them on IPPIS and post them to equally unsuspecting MDAs to commence work. ICPC is prosecuting one of the leaders of the syndicate from whose custody we retrieved several fake letters of recommendation purportedly signed by Chief of Staff to the President, Hon Ministers, Federal Civil Service Commission and other high ranking Nigerians.

Sir, the third phase of ICPC’s projects tracking covered 1083 projects across entire country with exception of Borno and Zamfara due to security challenges. The exercise verified implementation of executive and zip projects of legislators. We have so far initiated enforcement actions against 67 contractors and forced them back to site and ensured completion of 966 projects worth N310b some of which were hitherto abandoned.

Read Also:

  • Nigerian Army Denies Losing Weapons to Bandits in Kwara Operation
  • Uba Sani Releases ₦2.3bn for Retirees and Families of Deceased Workers
  • Group Urges CBN to Scrap 2% Service Charge on Hajj Fare to Reduce Pilgrimage Cost

Our findings indicate that the same malady of corruption afflicts executive as well as zip projects thus undermining government projections, escalating the cost of governance and denying Nigeria value for money. These malady include poor needs assessment that disconnects projects from beneficiaries; false certification of uncompleted contracts as completed, deliberate under performance of contracts incessant criminal diversion and conversion of public property by civil servants, to name just a few.

Other challenges relate to duplication of projects in the budget. ICPC review found that 257 projects amounting to N20.138b were duplicated in the 2021 budget leading us to submit an advisory to the HMF which was promptly actioned by the Minister to prevent abuse.

Your Excellency, a number of MDAs have mini civil wars going on between the Board and management and sometimes within the board. These squabbles revolve around abuse of power prohibited by ICPC Act and unreasonable demands by some Board members for privileges contrary to extant circulars and laws and government’s resolve to minimize cost of governance. ICPC’s Ethics Compliance Scorecard of MDAs report for 2021 shows that only 34.6% of the 360 MDAs assessed scored above average in Management Culture and Structure. This poor finding is not unrelated to unstable Boards unable to effectively oversight the institutions.

Your Excellency sir, let me commend government’s posture against illicit financial flows that drain resources from the nation. The time to further block leakages is now that government revenues are dwindling and practically threatened. ICPC is contributing to government’s efforts by its IFF focused project that has resulted in a major advisory to government with recommendations including prohibiting confidentiality clauses that facilitate fraud and money laundering, prevention of tax evasion, prohibition of illegal tax waivers and all practices that undermine government revenue projections. The IFF Inter-Agency Committee has organized a number of capacity building programs for civil servant on how to avoid fraud and IFF prone agreements.

On this note sir, we advise that government invest more in prevention and behavior change strategies alongside law and order measures to fight corruption. This is important if we are to maximize the gains of prevention and the wisdom that “prevention is better than cure”. ICPC in collaboration with development partners notably Ford Foundation for IFFs and MacArthur Foundation for behavior change is putting more attention to these areas in the months ahead.

Your Excellency Sir, I’m happy to introduce to Mr. President the winners of the 2021 ICPC Public Service Integrity Awards. They are Mr. Muhammad Tukur Ahmad of NDLEA and Mr. Nelson Orji Okoronkwo of Federal Ministry of Information. Their profiles are in the program. Included in this year’s award is Mr. Ikenna Steve Nweke a Nigerian student in Japan who has been appointed pioneer ICPC Citizen Anti-Corruption Volunteer Group Icon for his exemplary act of integrity of finding and returning intact a wallet containing substantial sums of money despite his impecunious state as a student. Mr. Nweke is with us virtually today.

Sir I wish to close by acknowledging and thanking Your Excellency on behalf of the Board, management and entire staff of ICPC for your encouragement, support, motivation and leadership and for providing the much needed political will required for any anti-corruption initiative to succeed. On our part we pledge to continue to do our best in the interest of the nation and in line with our statutory mandate.

PROF. BOLAJI OWASANOYE SAN
Chairman ICPC

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES
PRNigeria.com EconomicConfidential.com PRNigeria.com/Hausa/
EmergencyDigest.com PoliticsDigest.ng TechDigest.ng
HealthDigest.ng SpokesPersonsdigest.com TeensDigest.ng
ArewaAgenda.com Hausa.ArewaAgenda.com YAShuaib.com
  • TAGS
  • budget
  • ICPC
  • Mr. Muhammad Tukur Ahmad
Previous articleHow ICPC Detected 257 Duplicated projects worth N20bn in 2021 Budget
Next articleNSA Monguno Restates Resilience in Face of Persistent, Emerging Threats to National Security
Bolaji Owasanoye
Bolaji Owasanoye
Xing

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

GWA Award Winners 2025

PHOTOS: Nigeria Customs, IMPR Bag Back-to-Back Golden World Award at IPRA 70th Anniversary

Customs, NCC Strengthen Alliance on Device Monitoring, Security, Public Safety

EFCC Arrests 42 Suspected Internet Fraudsters, Recovers Laptops, Phones in Yobe

Military Foils Terrorist Attacks, Rescues Victims, Dismantles Hideouts in Sokoto, Kebbi

ICPC

ICPC Rises to 3rd Place in Transparency Index, Records Historic Leap in Integrity Score

Nigeria and the Genocide Lie That Refuses to Die By Kabir Abdulsalam

FULL TEXT INDEPENDENCE SPEECH: Tinubu Hails Nigeria’s Progress at 65 Tinubu, Lists Achievements, Promises Brighter Future

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Nigeria @ 65: Tinubu Hails Armed Forces, Claims Victory Over Boko Haram, IPOB, Bandits

Bayo Onanuga: Between Bolekaja Publicity and Public Relations

Nigeria at 65: Tinubu Lists 12 Economic Gains of His Reforms

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, Kano State

Gov Yusuf Launches N800m Youth Empowerment Scheme in Kano

A Neutralized Terrorists

Troops Foil ISWAP Attack, Neutralize 2 Terrorists, Recover Weapons in Monguno

Recent Posts

  • Nigerian Army Denies Losing Weapons to Bandits in Kwara Operation
  • Uba Sani Releases ₦2.3bn for Retirees and Families of Deceased Workers
  • Group Urges CBN to Scrap 2% Service Charge on Hajj Fare to Reduce Pilgrimage Cost
  • NDLEA Dismantles Cocaine Cartels Behind UK Shipments, Arrests Suspects, Destroys 25,000kg Skunk Nationwide
  • Kano Gov’t Investigates Alleged Diversion of N4bn Dala Inland Dry Port Funds
  • Home
  • About
  • Adverts
  • Contact
© 2020 PRNigeria. All Rights Reserved.
Latest News
Nigerian Army Denies Losing Weapons to Bandits in Kwara OperationUba Sani Releases ₦2.3bn for Retirees and Families of Deceased WorkersGroup Urges CBN to Scrap 2% Service Charge on Hajj Fare to Reduce Pilgrimage CostNDLEA Dismantles Cocaine Cartels Behind UK Shipments, Arrests Suspects, Destroys 25,000kg Skunk NationwideKano Gov't Investigates Alleged Diversion of N4bn Dala Inland Dry Port FundsACF Warns of Alleged Plot to Cripple Dangote Refinery, Urges FG InterventionTroops Neutralise Terrorists, Repel Boko Haram Attack in BornoPHOTOS: Nigeria Customs, IMPR Bag Back-to-Back Golden World Award at IPRA 70th AnniversaryTroops Nab Terrorists’ Logistics, Drug Suppliers in BornoS/Arabia-Trained Graduates to Begin Forum on Sustainable DevelopmentChristian Genocide and the Conspiracy against Nigeria By Femi Fani-KayodeWe Arrested 450 Terrorists, Rescued 180 Abducted Victims in One Month - MilitaryOver 100 Jerrycans of Petrol Seized as Police Foil Smuggling to Niger RepublicNAFDAC Seals Chinese Supermarkets, Cosmetics Shops in AbujaMining Marshals Arrests 5 Illegal Miners in Niger, Seize Logistics
X whatsapp