ICPC Recovers N454bn Assets in Four Years

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it recovered N454,805 billion worth of seized assets as it battled graft in the country in the last four years.

The Deputy Director Planning Research and Statistics ICPC, Mr. Jude Okoye, made the disclosure  at a media training in Abuja.

“The commission has also recorded 90 convictions within the period.

“The convictions were recorded in 4,737 investigated cases by the commission, with many pending in various courts”, he said.

He affirmed that through constituency and executive project tracking initiatives, the commission was able to track 3,422 projects.

While giving a breakdown of the recovered loot, Mr. Okoye said, “N9,341 billion was cash recovery in ICPC account and N67, 236 billion  from ICPC intervention investigation, while N257, 492 billion were funds restrained through final forfeiture.”

He explained that the sum of N2,865 billion was recovered from constituency and executive project tracking initiatives CEPTI and other assets.

Another N45, 280 billion, he said, were from CEPTI completed projects on return of contractors.

He further asserted that ICPC had recovered N26,573 billion from cash restrained through budget tracking.

Okoye, therefore, called for the support of all Nigerians in the war against corruption and expressed the commitment of ICPC to continue to collaborate with government agencies and development partners in the fight against corruption.

Speaking earlier on the essence of the capacity building, the Chairman of ICPC, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, said the training would strengthen the capacity of journalists in reporting the fight against graft in the country objectively.

He stated that “fake news and biased reporting threaten all of us. They threaten stability, professional competencies, and our livelihoods”, he said.