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Tag ICPC

  • Mar, Sat, 2020
Defence/Security

ICPC arrests `fugitive’ ex-presidential panel chairman, Obono-Obla

 Mr Ekoi Obono-Obla at the ICPC headquarters after his arrest in Abuja on Friday. Photo: ICPC

Arrest

By Philomina Attah

Abuja, March 21, 2020 (NAN) The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has arrested the  suspended Chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP), Mr Ekoi Obono-Obla.

Spokesperson of the commission, Mrs Rasheedat Okoduwa, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday night, said the arrest followed his “months of running from the law.”

” Obono-Obla’s arrest by operatives of the commission on Friday in Abuja, comes after he was declared wanted in October last year by ICPC for repeatedly failing to honour invitations sent to him.

“The commission, while investigating allegations of abuse of office, certificate forgery and fraud amongst others, had wanted Obono-Obla to appear before it to clear his name.

“ICPC had kept surveillance on his movements and activities for some time until he was finally arrested along Aso Drive opposite the Millennium Park Abuja on Friday afternoon,’’ Okoduwa said.

She added that the suspect was taken to the ICPC’s headquarters and “run through custody protocols including medical profiling,’’ adding that further investigation was ongoing.

Obono-Obla had earlier denied the allegations and dismissed the action of the ICPC in declaring him wanted as an attempt to ridicule and embarrass him.

He also denied being invited by the ICPC for questioning before he was declared wanted.(NAN)

APA/IU

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Edited by Isaac Ukpoju

  • Mar, Tue, 2020
General news

ICPC urges communities to report wrongdoings in executing constituency projects

 

Projects

By Muhammad Nasir Bello

Sokoto March 17, 2020 (NAN) The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has urged communities to report wrongdoings on any constituency projects undertaken by lawmakers in their areas.

The ICPC Chairman,Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye,  made the call during a town hall meeting on “My Constituency, My Project, ” organised by ICPC in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Sokoto on Tuesday.

Represented by the ICPC Commissioner in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, Mr Musa Alkali, Owasanoye said that the constituency projects were not gifts or donations by their elected  representatives.

“They belong to you as fruits of national resources and government responsibility to the people.

“Your representatives in the legislature who select constituency projects do so because they are closer to you, and it is expected that they understand your needs better.

“You should therefore work with them to make sure that projects chosen for you actually reflect your needs,” he said.

The ICPC Chairman added that the Communities needed to be fully involved and requested the audience of the representatives to put their needs across to them.

He added that the community must also protect the projects from destruction by vandals and ensure that facilities were  used responsibly.

The Director-General of NOA, Dr Garba Abari, said that the main concern of NOA was how the vehicle of development in the 20th year  of uninterrupted democracy could  be made to deliver the desired gains to the people.

Represented by the state Director NOA, Abubakar Danchadi,  Abari said that was the basis for the new partnership between the agency and ICPC.

“However, since the introduction of the concept of constituency projects a number of safeguard have been evolved to avoid abuse of the process.”

He added that the new template advocated under the new partnership between NOA and ICPC was for the people to own the entire process, from conception to execution.

Earlier, the representative of Civil Society Organisations, Malam Nura Attajiri, commended ICPC and NOA for the gesture and called on elected representatives to always involve their communities in governance.

He also called on the electorate to respect their votes by  itemising their  development needs to contestants  for political  offices before voting them, rather than collecting money to vote. (NAN)

BMN/OSA/AMY

Edited by Shittu Obassa and Abdullahi Yusuf

Economy

NSIO partners ICPC, others for transparent execution of SIPs

NSIO partners ICPC, others for transparent execution of SIPs

By Chijioke Okoronkwo
SIPs
Abuja, Oct. 14, 2019 (NAN) The National Social Investment Office (NSIO) says it is partnering with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other anti-graft agencies to ensure a seamless and transparent execution of the Social Investment Programmes(SIPs).
Mr Justice Bibiye, the Communications Manager, NSIO, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said that recent reports on extortion of cash transfer beneficiaries and cooks on the school feeding programme were disturbing.
He said that reported cases of truancy on the part of some N-Power beneficiaries had compelled the need for close monitoring of the various components of the SIPs to achieve the intended objectives.
Bibiye said that the NSIO/ICPC partnership would be formally inaugurated on Oct. 18 in Abuja.
“The NSIO has also been collaborating with security and anti-graft agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Service (DSS) for a more robust monitoring approach, which partnership has led to several arrests and prosecution of defaulters.
“Nigeria remains a vast and diverse terrain, while many of the SIPs beneficiaries reside in remote communities.
“The NSIO has ensured that from the federal level, all disbursements can be monitored and tracked through the BVN and unique identities of the beneficiaries but disturbing reports from the field call for more diligence from the CSOs, the anti-corruption agencies and concerned members of the public.
“The NSIO, therefore, continues to encourage and provide opportunities for feedback from the field, if only to safeguard the entitlements of the poor and vulnerable.
“This latest collaborative effort between the NSIO and ICPC is to further tighten all loose ends; to effectively checkmate acts that tend to undermine the strident efforts of the Federal Government to alleviate poverty in the country.
“The NSIO/ICPC partnership, which would be formally launched at an open event on Friday, Oct. 18, at the Auditorium of the State House in Abuja, is among other things, aimed at raising awareness to garner public support in fighting the menace of extortion, fraud and intimidation in the delivery and scaling up of the four projects under SIPs at the field level.’’
According to Bibiye, the partnership also aims at stimulating thinking and synergy around determining practical solutions and innovative approaches towards resolving the challenges SIPs beneficiaries and their target audience face.
He said that it was also an opportunity to establish a systemic structure to identify, curb and address corrupt tendencies in the programme.
A major highlight of the programme, which would be inaugurated by Hajiya Sadiya Farouk, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, was the launch of a Toll-Free Whistle blower Hotline 0800- Call-ICPC (0800 -22554272).
Bibiye said that the event, expected to produce positive outcomes that would further strengthen the execution of the SIPs for the benefit of Nigerians, would be open to CSOs, anti-corruption agencies, SIPs monitors and the media.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had in a nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 59th independence anniversary, restated his administration’s commitment to consolidating on the huge gains of the SIPs.
The communications manager said that SIPs had empowered over 12 million poor Nigerians in the last three years.
“Having begun moves to institutionalise the programme, the Buhari administration has remained committed and unwavering in its quest to ensure that the Social Protection Programme is executed in an open, accountable and transparent manner and in line with the zero tolerance for corruption stance of the current democratic dispensation.
“The NSIO coordinates the components of the SIPs namely National Home Grown School Feeding Programme NHGSFP, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme GEEP, N-POWER and the National Cash Transfer Programme NCTP.
“The NSIO has indeed worked in accordance with the vision of the administration by instituting processes and procedures that aim at insulating the SIPs from corrupt practices.
“Deliberate deployment of technology in identification, screening and payments to beneficiaries, strict adherence to due process in the award of contracts as well as compliance to bureaucratic processes make the SIPs stand out as one of the most transparently executed government programmes in Nigeria’s history,’’ he said. (NAN)
CJ/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

Anti-corruption clubs meant to prevent corrupt practices among students, ICPC official says

Clubs
By Bukola Adewumi
Abuja, May 24, 2019 (NAN) The establishment of anti-corruption clubs in schools was to help prevent the spread of corrupt practices among students, an official of Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says.

Mrs Ese Okworg, an official of the Commission’s Education Department, said this Thursday in Abuja at the ICPC and Accountability Lab “Shun Corruption’’ campaign at Government Model Secondary School (GMSS) Jikwoyi.

Okworg said corruption was not only found among adults or the rich, but could also be found among students in schools and youths out of schools.

“Fighting, stealing, lies or bullying other students are acts of corruption that should not be seen among students.

“I appeal to you to be good ambassadors by standing up against corruption,’’ she said.

Mr Samuel Emenogu, a member of the Accountability Lab, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), urged the students to live a life of integrity.

He said it was good for students to consciously and intentionally build themselves to live a life worthy of emulation.

Oyin Demola, a student of GMSS, said she was happy to be part of the anti-corruption club and promised to be the best she could be in the society.

Also, a Senior Secondary 2B student, Ebuka Mike, commended ICPC and Accountability Lab for coming to teach them values of integrity.

He promised to do the best he could in the area of integrity and teach others the way to go.(NAN)
BOL/KOLE/OLAL
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(Edited by Remi Koleoso and Olawale Alabi)