ICPC recovered over N10b in 2015 – Chairman

The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, Ekpo Nta on Tuesday said assets and cash worth over N10 billion were recovered by the Commission in 2015.
Nta also disclosed that ICPC received 942 petitions, investigated 384 and charged 59 cases to court, out of which it got five convictions.
Ekpo made this known on Tuesday at the 2015/2016 Budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption in Abuja.
The ICPC boss stressed the need for adequate annual budgetary provision for the agency to enable it discharge effectively its statutory functions.
He bemoaned the zero allocation for foreign trainings and engagements in the 2015 fiscal year, stressing that such international obligations provided opportunities for the Commission and other related agencies to exchange ideas on anti-corruption strategies.
He explained that the collaboration between ICPC and the Bankers Committee led to the introduction of the recoveries of misappropriated funds through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, Government Integrated Financial Management Information System and Bank Verification Number platforms, adding that the deployment of electronic platforms to monitor public sector financial disbursements and more systems review of Ministries ,Departments and Agencies would go a long way to reduce corruption-prone processes.
To effectively discharge its mandate, Nta disclosed that the Commission, which was granted the status of Nigerian Police by the ICPC Act, had trained its personnel in arms at the 177 Battalion located in Nassarawa State but that efforts made to procure arms through the office of the National Security Adviser were unsuccessful.
He said there was the need for the Commission to get funding for forensic laboratory, adding that the Commission currently depended  on other security agencies like the Nigeria Police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the facility.
The ICPC boss said the commission always had been guided by the human rights act and strictly observed the spirit of rule of law and due process in carrying out its assignments.
Nta stated that the sum of N4,534,029,523 was released out of the appropriated amount of N4,910,936,842 covering the Recurrent and Capital costs of the agency in 2015, “in spite of all odds, the Commission painstakingly carried out its operations effectively in 2015”.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Akinloye Hazeez, promised they will do their utmost to strengthen the Commission by making a case for increased funding for its operations and amendment of its enabling law where there “are legal impediments to its effectiveness”.
A member of the Committee, Iduma Igariwey, commended the commission for observing due process in its operations within the ambit of the law and urged it to continue to do its best in the discharge of its mandate.