ICPC Recovers N117b in Eight Months

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, has said the commission recovered over N117 billion between January and August 2022.

Owasanoye said this before the House of Representatives Committees on Anti-Corruption and Appropriation during the commission’s defence of the 2023 budget proposal yesterday in Abuja, according to a statement by the commission’s spokesperson, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua.

The statement said while speaking on the 2022 budget performance, the ICPC chairman gave a breakdown of the recoveries to include N1.413 billion and $225,965 in ICPC/TSA recovery account and N1.264 billion cash through tax intervention.

Other recoveries included plots of land, completed buildings, vehicles, electronics and jewelries valued at N679.13 million, N2.603 billion, N81.1 million, N1.55 million and N195,500.

The ICPC boss said the commission restrained N49.9 billion through System Study and Review intervention; N6.435 billion cash through budget tracking; N53.91 billion through ICPC advisory and N614.2 million in other accounts.

Apart from the recoveries, the chairman also highlighted other accomplishments of the commission during the 2022 budget cycle to include completion of 672 investigations and 565 non-petition-led investigations.

“Securing of 15 convictions; 538 projects tracked under Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTI); deployment of Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard on 260 MDAs; Review of Open Treasury Portal in 30 MDAs were also accomplished.

“System Study and Review of 10 MDAs; inauguration of 26 Anti-Corruption and Transparency Units (ACTUs); 14 Corruption Monitoring activities undertaken; and public enlightenment and education of Nigerians on and against corruption through various platforms” were performed.

Contributing during the budget defence, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, Nicholas Garba Shehu, hailed the ICPC and its board members for providing dynamic and visionary leadership.

Shehu noted that their leadership style had completely turned around the fortunes of the commission to a vibrant and viable anti-corruption agency.

The lawmaker urged them not to relent but to continue to soar higher.

He urged the Federal Government to release the remnant of the commission’s 2022 budget to enable it accomplish its target.

The committee’s chairman also urged ICPC to develop a whistleblowing mobile app so that Nigerians could take advantage of it to report acts of corruption wherever they are found.