Judiciary
THE Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre), a leading anti-corruption civil society organization, has charged the new leadership of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), under Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN), to conduct a comprehensive review of the outcomes of the commission’s investigation under his predecessor and take legal action against suspects implicated in the constituency project fraud spanning over a decade.
The Chairman of HEDA, Olanrewaju Suraju, said, in a statement on Sunday in Lagos that ICPC reports spanning 2003 to 2024 has reportedly revealed that approximately N2 trillion allocated to Nigerian lawmakers for constituency projects has yielded minimal results in terms of completed projects or community impact.
Suraju said that this pattern underscores a systemic failure to achieve the misplaced developmental objectives established outside the ambits of the law and separation of power under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’ government, with the reports highlighting egregious instances of corruption and misappropriation of public funds.
Suraju emphasized that the failure to prosecute those implicated by the outcomes of the investigation undermines accountability and seeks to perpetuate and embolden a culture of impunity.
He noted that despite clear evidence of financial impropriety and misuse of public resources, there has been inadequate action to hold responsible parties accountable.
“ICPC, both by its mandate and operations is a prosecutorial and law enforcement agency, not a recovery agency.”
“We therefore call for a comprehensive review and urgent action by the ICPC to ensure accountability and prosecution of all suspects named in these reports.
“The mismanagement of such a substantial amount of public funds is clearly contributing to the state of infrastructural decay, poverty, and insecurity across the country.
“Beyond all these, it is an affront to good governance and social justice, which could have significantly improved the lives of Nigerians,” Suraju said.
The chairman said that HEDA Resource Centre reaffirms its commitment to promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity in public service.
The organization urges the ICPC and other relevant authorities to prioritize the prosecution of those responsible for misappropriating constituency project funds to deter future acts of corruption and restore public faith in governance processes.
He stressed that HEDA and other civil society organisations, considering the propensity of our legislators to invoke legislative power to harass MDAs to avoid accountability, are available to provide all the needed political and social support to all anti-corruption agencies in achieving their mandates, including this particular case.
F.A
April 14, 2024 @ 18:56 GMT
Tags: Constituency project HEDA ICPC Olanrewaju Suraju
