Corruption Remains Major Issue in Nigeria, ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, Declares

•Says agency has recovered stolen N29.7bn, N11bn in value intervention monetary advisory

Iyobosa Uwugiaren in Abuja

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Aliyu, SAN, yesterday, said corruption remaind very pronounced in the country in spite of the huge efforts by the anti-corruption agencies.

Speaking in Abuja, he added that fighting corruption in a complex country like Nigeria required courage and the cooperation of citizens, and therefore urged the media to see the anti-corruption war as a duty.

The ICPC boss, who spoke during an interactive session with journalists, also accused corrupt officials of often manipulating the judicial process to escape sanction and protect the proceeds of corruption.

Highlighting the achievements of the commission under his leadership in the past one year, he cited several cases, which exposed huge corruption in the country.

“There was a case of a hospital that was paid 100 per cent five times. Yet, there was nothing to show for it,” he said.

Giving another example, Aliyu hinted of a case where a government official allegedly listed his wife, son and an in-law on the payroll of his agency, even though the son was a 15-year old student, who had not attained working age.

“That tells you how bad the problem of corruption has become. We cannot continue like this. All of us should join hands to tackle corruption in this country.

“Fighting corruption is not easy because when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. Those involved in corruption are united in their evil. They try to lie against us in order to discredit what we are doing.

“But as a nation, all well-meaning members of the public must join hands to tackle corruption. We don’t have an option. If we don’t tackle corruption, our children will have no future. If we don’t fight corruption, those involved will wreck the economy, and we will all suffer for it,” he said.

The ICPC chairman explained further that the commission was working closely with sister anti-graft agencies in country and other African countries to trace and repatriate assets stolen from the continent and kept overseas.

While noting that the African Anti-Graft Forum was formed to strengthen the efforts to identify and recover the assets, he said the forum was encouraging African experts to work with it in tracing the assets and assisting in their repatriation.

The ICPC boss requested the Nigerian media to see the anti-corruption crusade as a duty, saying that the Nigerians need to fight corruption if it must enjoy socio-economic development.

Fielding question on the management of the proceeds of corruption, Aliyu said the ICPC had adhered to the Proceeds of Crime Act in the management of recovered properties.

He explained that the commission had set up a committee of critical stakeholders, including Civil Society Organisations, the media, and government procurement experts, to effect transparent public auctions of such assets.

The commission, according to the chairman, had tracked 1,500 projects across the country with a total value of N610 billion and recovered N29.7 billion in stolen funds. And recovered over N11 billion from value intervention monetary advisory.