In its Phase 5 tracking exercise the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has begun fresh tracking of 712 constituency projects execution in 20 states.
The Spokesperson of ICPC, Azuka Ogugua disclosed the move on Sunday, stating that the exercise would be carried out in Kogi, Kaduna, Jigawa, Sokoto, Katsina, Kwara, Niger, Cross River, Delta, Rivers, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia, Borno, Bauchi and Gombe States.
She stated, “as with other tracking exercises carried out by ICPC since the kick-off in 2019, the objective of the Phase 5 is to investigate fraudulent procurement practices in the award of contracts for the selected projects across the country.
“It aims to ensure that all government funded projects are executed fully to their specifications and to make recoveries where the project costs are inflated by contractors or are poorly executed.”
Ogugua said some of the findings from the Phase 4 exercise included discovery of N7.1bn worth of padded projects, some contractors who had abandoned project sites being compelled to return to different sites to complete N10.9bn worth of projects, while N6.8 billion naira worth of recoveries (cash and assets) have been made so far.
“Also, 109 out of the 543 selected projects in Phase 4, amounting to N1,176,867,800 were found to have been inserted, which effectively turned them into Zonal Intervention Projects,” she added.
According to her, intelligence revealed that the insertions were done by both legislators and some members of the executive arm of the government in the budget-making process.
