EXPOSED:

Fat Rip-Off Uncovered At FG Agencies

• As ICPC Launches Unprecedented Probe
• Ministers, NNPCChiefs, Others in Soup 

  For the public institutions and officials whom graft seems to be a way of life, the day of reckoning if the authorities did not as usual intervene to protect such corrupt officers is now at hand. After a season of alleged treasury looting and/or misapplication of funds by a number of federal

EXPOSED:

Fat Rip-Off Uncovered At FG Agencies

ministries, agencies and departments, those involved are now sweating as one of the anti-graft outfits is hot on their trail. Although like its counterpart the EFCC, ICPC had been accused in the past for playing to the gallery and indulging in politics and alleged corruption in the crusade against corruption thereby rendering the fight ineffective while the citizens regard such anti-corruption bodies as irrelevant and rubber stamp. Recent development that prompted the ICPC to launch investigation into some government ministries and parastatals, pundits believe will be a litmus test to the Jonathan's administration commitment to the fight against corruption. Alleged cases of corruption under the Jonathan presidency particularly in the oil and power sectors is reportedly unprecedented in the history of corruption in Nigeria.

            DESERT HERALD exclusively learnt that the bubble started to burst for the government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) when it recently came to light that there were glaring differences between the allocation and actual execution of the 2009 Capital budgets of the MDAs. Specifically, officialdom got to know in the process of a recent routine check that showed that some funds allocated for specific projects were either not spent or partially spent, with the huge difference not entirely accounted for by those concerned. Tens of billions of naira is believed to be involved in the recent racket that involved several ministries and parastatals.

            “The total amount involved in the Budget gate, as it is now known here (civil services) is quite staggering,” a reliable source informed DESERT HERALD. “In many of those cases, unspent budgetary allocations were neither returned to the public purse, I mean the treasury, nor accounted for. This, you may recall, is contrary to the government's unambiguous directive that every ministry or agency must return its unspent allocation as a way of checking possible fraud or corruption.” He said if not for the purpose of diverting such funds there is no need of making budgetary provision/allocation on money that will not be spent at the end of the financial year. Findings by this paper also reveal that the National Assembly is also among the top government institutions that engages in such unprecedented corruption that is almost killing the nation's economy due to the lackluster attitude of the two anti-corruption watchdogs. 

            It was learnt that in the face of this culture of impunity, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) promptly launched an unprecedented probe with a view to getting to the root of the matter. According to a staff of the Commission, who spoke to our correspondent last week on condition of anonymity, “the extent of the suspected sleaze compelled ICPC boss, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, to launch the inquiry recently. The aim, the source added, is to identify  cases of corruption and those behind it with a view to not only prosecuting them but also recovering any stolen or “misapplied” money”. The source expressed skepticism about the sincerity of the commission to prosecute highly placed government officials that might be indicted by the ongoing investigation and call on President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene and ensure that thorough investigation and prosecution is conducted to ensure considerable sanity in the system as the 2011 elections draws nearer. 

            In all, a number of federal institutions are being targeted. As a first step in its investigation, which is being diplomatically called “fraud examination,” ICPC was said to have instructed “all the federal ministries, departments and agencies to submit details of their capital budgets for last year.” The documents would be used to assess their adherence or otherwise to due process in the utilization of their allocation, the official added. “But alas, many of them have either shunned the directive or forwarded documents that are not all that helpful to our investigation,” our source confided.

            Ironically, even the Nigeria Police Force and the Ministry of Police Affairs (two institutions) that otherwise embody due process and rule of law, stand out pre-eminently among the list of the “no show” MDAs.

In the same vein, the Ministry of Defense, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are said to be hedging on submission of returns on their 2009 capital budget. More than 100 MDAs are said to have shunned the ICPC'S directive even after repeated reminders. The Commission may deal with the erring MDAs by invoking sections 40 and 41 of the ICPC Act, it was learnt. These Sections mandated ICPC to prosecute any public outfit that ignores its directive in respect of disclosure of information related to fraud or corruption. DESERT HERALD learnt that heads of ministries and parastatals particularly those that are close to the president like the Minister of Petroleum, Dizeani Allison Madueke and a host of others are not only defying the ICPC but considers such action as empty threats being pursued to attract financial patronage from them. “ It is an empty threat. The ICPC cannot do anything at the end of the day. We have seen how they handled several cases in the past. The moment they negotiate with officials of such ministry or parastatal that's the end of the cases. You will never hear it again. That is Nigeria for you. That is why the affected officials don't take them seriously anymore.

            But the ICPC boss, Justice Ayoola, has confirmed the anti-graft commission's latest offensive. Hear him: “What we are dealing with is fraud examination, because if fraud will be perpetrated, it will be through capital budget. We have received returns from almost 400 MDAs. When you are conducting criminal investigation, you don't have to rush it, so we are ready to stay the course. There is no time limit for the conclusion of our investigations.” His statement was interpreted by critics of the commission as a confirmation that at the end of the day, Nigerians will as usual remain in the dark under the usual cover of investigation or the usual language that you don't rush even if till eternity in the cause of conducting criminal investigation. They gave references to several corruption cases under both the ICPC and EFCC that were at best abandoned at various stages of investigation. But others averred that Justice Ayoola should be given the benefit of doubt and should be commended for initiating such important investigation at a time of unprecedented corruption in the system by highly placed government officials that are today being regarded as untouchables.

            The ICPC boss in his statement and response to critics added that “Some people have expressed fears that with documents of such magnitude we may not be able to cope. Those who thought that by inundating them with heaps of documents (they) will deter us are mistaken…That informed the decision of the government that the MDAs should transfer back surplus funds not spent at the end of each year, which used to be frittered away as Christmas bonus. This has been shooting up the cost of government in this country and we are prepared to put a stop to it. The same spirit informed our decision to probe the performance or non-performance of the federal ministries and agencies.”

But the commission's boss clarified that they were actually targeting possible fraud. “We are not interested in budget performance. We are only concerned with public procurement and to what extent due process was followed. What we are dealing with is fraud examination. As an independent body it is part of our statutory duty to investigate fraud”.

            DESERT HERALD reliably gathered that ever since the ICPC probe was launched, “heads of most of the MDAs and their top management staff have been jittery over the possible consequences, for instance some of the documents submitted by a number of ministries and agencies “were found to be forged, tampered with or misleading, all in their desperate bid to obfuscate the truth,” a source close to the commission disclosed in confidence. “When their attention was drawn to this lapse, many of them simply become tongue-tied.”

Meanwhile and from the surface , Justice Ayoola and his officials apparently remain unbending in their determination to expose and prosecute what many believed was a fraud of alarming proportion by the MDAs. Indeed, ICPC's eagle-eyed teams of investigators are believed to have already identified some “suspicious” cases of corruption in some MDAs. “The cases are being treated in different grades, depending on the gravity of each of them and will be charged to court in due course,” the source further disclosed to our correspondent. 

What remains to be seen is whether or not the ICPC can muster the courage and credibility of identifying all areas of fraud without fear or favour and to prosecute all those that are found culpable in the wanton mismanagement of public funds and abuse of office and due process. Some pundits have already concluded that it will be easier for the head of a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the ICPC to be thorough and objective by prosecuting the big names that were already fingered in massive corruption at the MDAs. But if the assurances given by Justice Ayoola is anything to go by, the retired judge may as well surprise critics of his commission and may write his name in gold in the history of fighting corruption in Nigeria. Whatever happens, the next few weeks will determine the anticipated result.      

Fat Rip-Off Uncovered At FG Agencies

• As ICPC Launches Unprecedented Probe
• Ministers, NNPCChiefs, Others in Soup

By MERCY OCHEJE