Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, said the commission, with the help of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), has intercepted and blocked $300,00 meant for students Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
On Tuesday, the ICPC chairman, who stated this in Abuja during the Centre for Media Policy and Accountability (CMPA) one-day National Policy Dialogue on Anti-Corruption at the ICPC Auditorium, called for collaborations among agencies and stakeholders to tackle corruption effectively.
According to him, “BPP gave us an idea because something strange was happening concerning ICT students’ funds, and then we had to look properly. We made recoveries, blocked $300,000 in one of the accounts, and recovered an expensive vehicle.”
Also speaking, Dr Adebowale Adedokun, director general of the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP), said collaboration between anti-corruption agencies would benefit the country in the fight against corruption.
Earlier in his remarks, the executive director of CMPA, Dr Suleiman A. Suleiman, said the essence of the national dialogue is to guide anti-corruption performance in Nigeria. He noted that the Nigerian public always feels that the anti-corruption agencies are not doing anything, hence the need to bridge the gap.
He said, “While Nigerian anti-corruption agencies believe they are doing relatively well in tackling corruption in the country, civil society organisations, the media, and the Nigerian public tend to think that there has been this gap in understanding of anti-corruption performance between anti-corruption agencies and on the one hand.
“Therefore, this is precisely what we have the project plan to do to bring anti-corruption agencies, civil society organisations, the Nigerian public and the media together so that we can collectively fashion how best to report anti-corruption performances in the region.”
He further stated that the recovery of 150,500 square metres, containing 753 Units of duplexes and other apartments by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would be interpreted by citizens that corruption is plenty in Nigeria.
According to him, “Let me give an example. Just yesterday, we learned in the news that the EFCC has recovered over 700 estimated housing units from somebody through the courts as part of its anti-corruption records.
“There is no doubt that this is a massive achievement in anti-corruption in the country, but you see, at the same time, misinformation also means that corruption is very plenty, and therefore the researchers and experts that are relating corruption in the country, once they see reports of corruption like this in the media, as far as they are concerned, it means that they see much corruption in the country. So that means that in trying to do good, we sometimes inevitably do a bit of harm.”
Also, the representative of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) assured that the present administration will fight corruption to a standstill.
He said corruption will not be legitimised in the country but will be fought with all means possible.
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