ABUJA – The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s (ICPC) Chairman , Bolaji Owasanoye, has disclosed that investigations are ongoing to uncover numerous cases of job racketeering in the security sector as well as military contracts spending.
Owasanoye, also called for a review of public procurement policies to reduce corrupt practices in the country.
The ICPC chairman spoke Friday at the national policy dialogue on corruption and insecurity in Nigeria organized by the commission.
He stated that the dialogue’s which had in attendance, the Senator president, Ahmed Lawan, security and other dignitaries like Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Babagana Munguno (rtd); and Chief of Defense Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor among other key government officials was to broaden stakeholders’ perspectives on the causes, enablers, and policy gaps that limit the nation’s ability to decisively and completely abolish insecurity within its borders.
According to him, ICPC’s research and findings demonstrated how corruption in the public sector both directly and indirectly promotes insecurity and can occasionally amplify it.
The ICPC chairman cited information from the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) when he claimed that $15 billion had been lost through shady arms deals in the nation during the previous 20 years.
He said: “Recently, ICPC arrested a military contractor that received over a period of less than ten years cumulative sum of about N6 billion from the Nigerian Army in suspicious circumstances and in violation of extant legislation.
“The commission’s recovery of huge cash sums in local and foreign currencies, luxury cars, customized mobile phones, designer watches including three Rolexes, as well as property documents from the premises of the contractor underscore the corruption that often attends military procurement.
“Another case under investigation is theft of part of special intervention fund approved for security operations by some civil servants in the line ministry who transferred about N1 billion to 4 shell companies.
“A special investigative team under the leadership of NSA and ICPC recovered some of the diverted assets, including state of the art building located in Abuja and over N220 million cash. Investigation in this matter is still ongoing.
“The newly established police special intervention framework, designed to eliminate underfunding of the police, the Police Trust Fund, is already under ICPC investigation for abuse, fund diversion bogus, questionable welfare packaging that is not for the police who are the beneficiaries of the fund and sundry corrupt practices.”
Owasanoye stated that the commission is working with other anti-corruption agencies to look into instances of financial misuse in the procurement procedures of the defense sector.
“While ICPC and EFCC are investigating some of these anomalies, our efforts will not yield much without proactive prevention measures and a review of extant procurement practices,” he added.
“The commission is collaborating with other anti-corruption agencies to investigate misappropriation of funds in defence sector procurement practices.
“While ICPC and EFCC are investigating some of these anomalies, our efforts will not yield much without proactive prevention measures and a review of extant procurement practices,” he added.
“ICPC in furtherance of its statutory mandate to prevent corruption by review of the systems, processes and practices of agencies of government and to direct improvement where they predispose to corruption has through its research and training arm convened this policy dialogue,” he noted.
