The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Thursday said the bulk of an estimated USD90billion leaving Africa through illicit financial flow annually comes from Nigeria.
This is even as the commission alleged that a lawmaker from Benue state diverted constituency projects for personal use.
ICPC Chairman Bolaji Owansanoye stated this in Makurdi during the commemoration of “The African Union Anti-Corruption Day,” themed “The opportunity cost of corruption and the value of asset recovery.”
Represented by the Benue ICPC Commissioner, Mr. Adebayo Obaniyi, he said the commission was at the moment tracking all constituency projects from 2015 till date across the country.
He said the commission discovered so many issues in the cost of their tracking of constituency projects in the state.
Owasanoye said a Benue federal lawmaker diverted a constituency community borehole project to building his personal house.
The commission, he further stated, also discovered a situation in Benue South Senatorial District where a constituency road project was completed on the paper but not executed.
Owansanoye said negative impact of corruption on the continent’s economic development were very obvious.
“It is even sad that the bulk of an estimated USD90bn that leaves Africa through illicit financial flow annually might have come from Nigeria.
“The continent as a whole, certainly receives less than that amount in development assistance from countries of Europe and America yearly.
“Since proceeds of crime end in assets, stashed mostly abroad, it is good that Nigeria adopts the strategy of asset recovery and return to the source as one of the cardinal points of her national anti-corruption strategy.”
The ICPC boss further said the commission would also ensure the effective utilisation of budgetary allocations to social welfare and human development.
Earlier, chairman of the occasion and former ICPC Commissioner, Mr. Geoffrey Anumve, said the commission needed to carry out intensive education on endemic corruption.
Anumve said Nigeria was regarded by other nationals as the most corrupt country in the world.
“Corruption is eaten deep into our system, right from the roads, motor parks, markets, schools among others. In our universities today, there is serious corruption actively ongoing, we have the issues of sex and money for marks which are all corruption,” Anumve said.
EFCC on lost $50bn to assets
In a related development, Africa loses over $50 billion to illegally acquired assets annually, the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) has said.
The Ilorin zonal head of the agency Ilorin, Mr. Ishiaku Sharu, said this in Ilorin Thursday during a walk to mark the 3rd African Union Anti-Corruption Day rally with the theme: “Towards a common African position on asset recovery”.
Speaking during the rally, Sharu said there was the need to strengthen international cooperation among anti-corruption agencies in Africa for the purpose of developing a common position framework on assets recovery and return.
“The continent is losing over $50 billion yearly due to illegally acquired assets located all over the world and the process of tracing, freezing, management and eventual repatriation of assets is a long process, hence the need for the involvement of relevant instruments through international cooperation to repatriate stolen assets back to Africa,” he said.
He said the aim of the walk was to bring together all relevant anti-corruption stakeholders (domestic and international) to reflect on the challenges of assets recovery in Africa and solicit contributions and support towards developing a framework for an Africa’s common position on asset recovery, as well as to create awareness and engage the citizens in asset recovery efforts.
Sharu also said the aim of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in the fight against corruption in Nigeria had brought significant recovery of looted assets acquired through mismanagement of public finds.
Also in his remarks, Kwara state Director of National Orientation Agency Segun Adeyemi said the presence of EFCC in the state was making impact with securing of conviction of some internet fraudsters.
He therefore called on the society to guide against corruption.
The walk which commenced from EFCC office took participants through the Ahmadu Bello way, Challenge, Post Office, Offa Road, Tanke Junction and ended at the EFCC office.
Shaku therefore appealed to all the stakeholders “to join hands with the commission to ensure recovery of our common patrimony carted away by the looters, most importantly with the recent whistle blowing policy of the federal government.”
TSA yields N10trn
Notwithstanding the negative trend, the federal government said it saved over N288 billion through the implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) from April 2007 till date.
Office of the Account General of the Federation (OAGF) said this Thursday in Abuja when the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation visited the office on peer review mechanism of ministries departments and agencies (MDAs) exercise.
The presentation was made by Director of Information Technology Department of the OAGF Afolabi Ajayi.
Ajayi said the IPPIS scheme was one of the federal government’s reform initiatives designed to achieve a centralised payroll system of the government.
He said the scheme also facilitated easy storage, updating and retrieval of personal records for administrative and pensions processing to aid manpower planning and budgeting as well as to comply with global best practice.
Ajayi said money saved was as a result of the difference between the amount government would have released to those MDAs based on appropriation and the actual amount released and paid through IPPIS.
“The IPPIS has made it possible for prompt and regular payment of salaries to public servants.
“The system has also facilitated prompt deductions and remittances to the accounts of all third parties stakeholders such as PFAs, NHIS, NHF and cooperative societies.
“506 MDAs with total staff strength of 344,625 are on the IPPIS platform with the gross pay of about N49.07 billion as at Sept. 2018,” he further said.
Ajayi also stated that the federal government had also collected over N10 trillion from the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) from 1,674 MDAs.
He said under TSA, government was able to save over N45 billion monthly in interest on ways and means that it used to pay before the full implementation of the TSA.
Mr. Ajayi said that N50 billion had so far been mopped up from commercial banks as a result of TSA implementation.
“Other achievements recorded since TSA became fully operational include the elimination of cash handling costs and ability to determine consolidated federal government cash position.
“There has also been significant improvement on Federal Government liquidity position, improved revenue collection mechanism through e-collection and better cash management capabilities,” he said.
Ajayi said the OAGF was also handling the asset management project, established mainly for tracking, monitoring and management of all federal government’s fixed assets.
“The project is also tasked to devalue the registered assets using approved methods of revaluation or depreciation.
“We are also to recommend those assets to be disposed of, regenerated, or relocated to other centres that need them,” he said.
Mr. Ajayi said through the project, a real-time database of all government’s properties, plants and equipment would be created to ensure proper utilisation.
(NAN)