The House of Representatives has expressed concern over the inability of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to launch an inquiry into the alleged corruption at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Chairman of the House committee on anti-corruption, national ethics and values, Hon. James Faleke (ACN, Lagos) who made the position of the House known at the weekend during the commission’s budget defence regretted that the commission had not made any effort to scrutinise the books of NNPC as advised by the committee over transactions in respect of subsidy.

“We have asked you (ICPC) to go after NNPC but nothing has been done.

“As a Parliament, we will make the anti-graft system work. Nigerians have lost confidence in the ways things are done,’’ Faleke said.

He said that Nigerians were looking forward to the commission to check the menace of corruption in the country assuring that the National Assembly would ensure that ICPC got all required for it to function effectively.

In his response, acting chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ekpo Nta said the commission would ensure that all cases of corruption were put in permanent check.

He said that the commission would need international assistance to carry out a successful review of the happenings at NNPC.

“We will need international assistance to do a successful review of that system,’’ he said.

The acting chairman told the committee that the commission had concluded arrangements to monitor budget implementation in government offices through Information Technology (IT).
He said that the commission would also use information technology to track activities of its staff nationwide.

He attributed the paucity of funds facing the commission to the lack of understanding of the functions of the commission.

“With better understanding of what our roles are in this country, we will begin to see the kind of funding that is genuinely required to drive the anti-corruption war,’’ he said.

He said that the commission would redesign all its systems to step up the fight against corruption in the country.

According to him, every Nigerian has a role to play in the fight against corruption which has become endemic in the country.

Nta said that in a renewed resolve to fight corruption, the commission had ensured that its personnel are free of all corrupt practices.

He said that in the past four years, the ant-graft agency had not bought any operational vehicle to facilitate its operations.

“I will prefer a situation where we cut down money for maintenance to procure new vehicles,’’ he said.

The sum of N25 billion allocated to the commission and other three agencies by the budget office was described as grossly inadequate for the agencies to function effectively.

The other three agencies include, Code of Conduct Bureau, NDLEA and EFCC.
























culled from The Will