ANTI- GRAFT WAR; FG slowly killing ICPC
Even as the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is championing a war against corruption, it is seemingly killing one of the country’s oldest anti-corruption agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
The ongoing anti-graft war of the present administration is still being slowed down, as regional offices of the agency, have been deserted by staff, over paucity of funds.
The state of the agency suggests that it is slowly winding up, as it is a shadow of what it was set up to be, in the fight against corruption in Nigeria.
A visit by Ripples Nigeria to the Lagos, Enugu and Port Harcourt offices of the commission, left little to be desired.
In the Lagos office, less than ten staff were met on ground when a Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, visited.
The few staff met on ground, were idle and complained bitterly to lawmakers who expressed dismay at the low morale in the office. In many of the offices, there were no functional air-conditioners or ceiling/standing fans.
A similar visit to the Lagos office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) showed a different situation. There were over 100 functional staff in the EFCC office and almost everyone was active.
The situation in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital is also pathetic. There was no activity there. During the visit, less than 10 staff were also on ground. Unlike EFCC, ICPC staff who spoke, said they are not allowed to prosecute cases, without approval from the headquarters in Abuja.
It was also discovered at the Enugu office, which controls Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo and Abia, that only two functional vehicles were available, with only one driver available to service the entire South-east region.
Chairman of Senate Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes committee, Senator Chukwuka Utazi, could not hide his disappointment and frustration, as he bemoaned the poor funding of the agency and wondered why the Federal Government was paying less attention to it.
Read also: State govts hindering corruption cases -ICPC
Findings by Ripples Nigeria, revealed that poor funding of the commission was partly responsible for the low morale. For instance, it was discovered that less than N4 billion was released last year to the agency.
This year, it was gathered that the commission has received less than N4 billion, which is barely enough to pay salaries.
Some staff of the agency who spoke to Ripples Nigeria in confidence, said there were no funds to investigate or prosecute cases. The staff lamented that they were only showing up at work everyday to buy time.
“We do not get training unlike EFCC. When it comes to investigation of cases and even prosecution, we cannot do anything because there is no money. ICPC is almost dead.
“From what we have seen, it is obvious that President Buhari does not have confidence in ICPC and he does not hide it. The whole world thinks that we are lazy, but the truth is that, we do not have money to work with.
“Sometimes, we use taxis and bikes to conduct investigations. Everyday, we are exposed to danger in the course of our duty. It is very bad and I am not sure this government will fund ICPC,” the staff lamented.
There have been campaigns calling for the merger of the ICPC with the EFCC, with the proponents arguing that the two agencies perform the same functions, and that their separate existence is merely a duplication, and waste of government resources.
ICPC Chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta, had cautioned against such a merger by arguing that it would be counterproductive as the fight against corruption might not get the required mileage if the ICPC and the EFCC were merged

By Ehisuan Odia


Ripples Nigeria  without borders, without fears

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