ICPC To Track 550 Projects In 18 States

A Nigeria’s anti-graft commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has revealed plans tol track 550 projects in 18 states in the fourth phase of its Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Exercise (CEPTE).

The commission’s spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, in a statement on Friday in Abuja, said the exercise would commence on May 9, adding that it would focus on Federal Government funded projects in Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Kaduna, Kebbi and Kano.

The remaining states are Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti State, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

She said that a total of 424 projects were tracked across 12 states in the first phase of the exercise in 2019.

The ICPC spokesperson said the second phase conducted in 2020 featured 722 projects in 16 states while the third phase in 2021 featured 1,098 projects in 16 other states and FCT.

She identified the focal sectors of the fourth phase of the exercise to include the education, health, water resources, agriculture and rural development and power sector.

According to her, tracking involves investigating fraudulent procurement practices in the award of contracts for projects.

“It ensures projects are executed to the specified standard, value-for-money obtained, and implementation of the projects are from inception to completion monitored.

“In collaboration with critical stakeholders, there will also be recoveries on projects/contracts confirmed to have been inflated or where contractors under-performed or did not perform at all, ” she said.