The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has developed mechanisms and strategies it follows to prevent abuse of constituency projects by politicians and other stakeholders.
The Commission Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN) stated this on Wednesday at an engagement with northern Nigerian media editors, during which he highlighted proactive measures adopted by the antigraft agency to prevent mismanagement of constituency projects among others.
According to the chairman, whenever a budget is presented to the national assembly, ‘’we try to study the budget, so as to observe grey areas if they exist and the allocation with red flags.’’
‘’Also we always try to observe if there were any insertions in the budget and we do examine it line by line so that we can be sure that, hidden allocation is not in the budget,’’ Aliyu said.
‘’So when we notice such anomaly, we do visit the budget office for clarification.’’,
‘’Later we mostly stop such funds from being released whenever it does occur.’’
Meanwhile, Dr Musa Aliyu said with the Supreme Court ruling granting the local government financial autonomy, the commission is partnering with credible civil society organizations to implement a Corruption Prevention Program for Local Governments to ensure proactive disclosure of information relevant to finances, procurement and control corruption.”
The ICPC Chairman said three factors help in the fight against corruption.
He said the person must be knowledgeable, has integrity and be courageous to change the society for good.
The former attorney general of Jigawa State and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) noted that the ICPC policy thrust, the ’’CARE’’ which means Culture, Accountability, Responsibility and Efficiency assist in delivering the mandate of the commission diligently.
He appealed to the media to work with the commission to raise public awareness and promote ICPC’s programs as the nation’s progress depends on it.
