The Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI) has asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to carry out an audit of public agencies, saying there are massive corruption in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The organisation said that there were overwhelming reports of sleaze in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), North East Development Commission (NEDC), Basin Authorities, Nigeria Metrological Agency (NIMET) and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending by the helmsmen of the agencies.
ARDI’s Director of Publicity, Yiniyes Jibrailu, said on Tuesday in Abuja in a letter to the ICPC Chairman that the commission should investigate the looting of the public treasury by public officers and make its findings and action taken known to Nigerians.
The group which masterminded the petition that led to the removal of the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, reminded the ICPC that its establishment Act empowers it to tackle public sector corruption and report the actions taken to the citizens.
According to him, “it was no longer a secret that public servants now owned properties everywhere, drive luxury cars and train their children in schools abroad and yet nobody questions their source of wealth”.
The letter addressed to the ICPC chairman read in parts, “By our tracking system and information from stakeholders, it reveals massive abuse of office and lack of compliance with the procurement and financial management regulations by public officers and the ICPC seem not to be at the forefront of the fight to tackle this monster.
“Ordinarily, anti-corruption agencies like the ICPC, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence are supposed to be on top of this game, but individuals, CSO’s and the media are the ones doing all the investigations and breaking the news.”
The group contended that the ICPC should not have allowed the National Assembly to drive the ongoing probe into the alleged corruption in some commissions and agencies, noting that this had brought a political dimension into the exercise and rubbished it.
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