IN a startling revelation that underscores the depth of corruption within Nigeria’s public sector, the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN), recently disclosed that certain corrupt government officials fraudulently paid for the same hospital project five times, and without building a single structure! Dr. Aliyu, who made this disclosure during an interaction with media executives in Abuja, described the incident as a glaring example of how deeply entrenched corruption had become in Nigeria’s governance system, stressing the urgent need for collective action to combat the menace. Hear him: “There was the case of a hospital which was paid for 100 percent, five times. Yet, there was nothing to show for it. That tells you how bad the problem of corruption has become. We cannot continue like this.”
According to the ICPC chairman, this case is just one of many, reflecting the systemic rot across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). He cited another example where a government official fraudulently listed his wife, son, and in-law on the payroll, although the son was actually still a studaent, and far from the working age. He further revealed that the commission recently intercepted and blocked an attempt to divert N20 billion by officials of another government agency. According to him, this success highlights the commission’s proactive strategies in preventing fraud before it occurs. On the issue of illicit financial flows, Dr. Aliyu was keen to emphasise the fact that vast amounts of stolen Nigerian assets, both cash and properties, are hidden abroad, lampooning countries in the Global North for acting as safe havens for these illicit assets in aid of corrupt African officials looting the continent’s wealth. He said: “When we trace these assets and seek their return, we face numerous obstacles. Even when agreements are reached, foreign consultants demand exorbitant commissions just to facilitate the repatriation.”
The revelations by the ICPC boss are staggering, but only typical. Perhaps because they do not expect to be caught, or because they do not hope to face serious consequences in the highly unlikely event that they are caught, Nigeria’s public officials and civil servants have stolen the country blind for years. They have raided the treasury with maniacal consistency and reports by the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation and even the ICPC itself have detailed these crimes time and again. Yet it is fair to ask, speaking of the current case and others, were the suspects arrested and prosecuted to serve as deterrent to orders? What is the place of due process in awarding contracts? Who released the money in the case of the hospital in question which was used to loot the public till on five separate occasions? Was there a certificate of completion for the work allegedly done and who issued it?
In serious climes, people who perpetrate this kind of infamy spend long years behind bars, or inevitably contend with the hangman’s noose. In Nigeria, they seem to enjoy their loot, and even garner a harvest of chieftaincy titles to boot. If certain civil servants derisively called evil servants because of corruption are still getting away with their crimes in the various cesspits of sleaze called MDAs, it is because of the glaring lack of consequences for egregious conduct. Nigeria’s corruption seems to be properly constituted, supervised by networks of criminals rendering the goal of governance as a problem-solver ineffective or prostrate. Sadly, the National Assembly which is supposed to scrutinise budgets diligently seems always too eager to approve new estimates when there has been no cogent explanations on how previous ones were disbursed.
Read Also: Kwara gov urges Kwara pilgrims to be good ambassadors of Nigeria
And what really has been the value of disclosures of corruption in public spaces by the anti-corruption agencies beyond tantalizing the public with anti-graft rhetoric? For how could the contract for a hospital be fully paid for five times without anything being built and yet Nigerians do not have the names of those involved and the current state of their justifiable prosecution? Someone had the temerity to enlist his wife and virtually all other members of his family on the payroll of a government agency and the only thing Nigerians would know about all this is as a tale from the ICPC chairman! And where are the criminals who sought to steal N20bn but were stopped in their tracks by the ICPC now? Are they in detention?
Evidently, there has to be much more than tale-bearing in the business of fighting corruption, especially through the activation of due processes and the effective and diligent prosecution of all those found to be involved in such infractions to deter would-be criminals. Nigerians obviously deserve more than the currentf circus shows called presentations on anti-corruption activities.
and then