FG secures 1,295 convictions in one year - The Nation Nigeria

By Yusuf Alli and Onyedi Ojiabor, Abuja

The Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed has said the anti-corruption war of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has led to 1,295 convictions in the last one year.

He also said Nigeria is marching surely and steadily to join the comity of great nations under Buhari.

Mohammed made the disclosures at a briefing in Abuja to mark the first year of the second term of the President.

He said the fight against corruption was on course by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC).

According to him: “The fight against corruption, a cardinal programme of the Administration, continued unabated during the period under review. The leading anti-corruption agencies have been unrelenting in facing down the canker worm of corruption. In the last one year alone, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) has recovered assets worth N81.23 billion.
“The breakdown is as follows: N 41.98bn( Money restrained on review of MDAs’ Personnel Cost Expenditure and Capital Development Fund); N35.011bn ( Lands, Buildings & Vehicles); N1.167bn (Cash in TSA); N0.77bn ( Recoveries from Constituency projects tracked); N1.097bn (Completed constituency projects on return of contractors to site); N 0.865bn Cash (Other Accounts); and $1.113m (Cash (Other Domiciliary A/C) Converted @ N305/ $.

“The ICPC has also established a Constituency Project Tracking Group, now named Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Group, to track performance of publicly-funded projects, especially projects with immediate impact on the livelihood of ordinary Nigerians.

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“424 of such projects were tracked within the period under review, which led to the completion of several abandoned projects and recovery of billions of Naira on some of the projects.

“Number of completed constituency projects in education, health, water resources, agriculture and other sectors increased to over 400 nationwide, from those that were specifically monitored. Furthermore, over 300 contractors who had abandoned projects returned to site in various parts of the country.

“In the area of prosecution, the Commission secured 25 convictions in the past one year. The Commission received 1934 petitions within the period under review and concluded investigations on 588 petitions. 105 cases were filed in court and 25 convictions were secured.

“The ICPC has also escalated the use of administrative sanctions in the public service by periodically submitting, for sanction, names of public servants being prosecuted, in line with extant public service rules. 62 names were submitted to government for sanction in 2019.

“On its prevention mandate, the Commission reviewed the personnel and capital fund expenditure of 201 MDAs. This activity led to the restraining of about N42 billion on inflated personnel cost which would otherwise have been diverted by MDAs mostly in health and education sectors.

“On its part, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured 1,270 convictions and recovered huge amounts of money within the period under review. The recoveries include N32.6 billion Naira; $10,348; 758,155 Pounds Sterling; 183,475 Euros; 294,950 Saudi Riyal; 2,800 Chinese Yuan; 300 Canadian Dollars and 500 CFA.

“The 1,270 convictions include high profile ones, such as the liquidation and forfeiture of the P&ID Nigeria Limited to the Federal Government, after the conviction of the company for fraud and tax evasion.”

On the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister said Nigeria is marching surely and steadily to join the comity of great nations.

“With the bold and courageous leadership provided by President Buhari, Nigeria is marching surely and steadily to join the comity of great nations.

“Change is never easy, and the birth of a new nation comes with pain. We thank Nigerians for their support and perseverance, and hereby reassure them of the Administration’s unrelenting commitment to making life more meaningful for the citizenry.
“As we begin the second year of the second and last tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, I want to inform Nigerians that the stage is set for the implementation of the greatest agricultural revolution in the history of Nigeria.

“The unprecedented recent approval by the Buhari administration to inject $1.2b in in-kind loan into the agriculture sector through the government-to-government bilateral loan from Brazil, with support from Deutsche Bank and the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Export Credit of the Islamic Development Bank, will revolutionize our agriculture at scale. Together with the Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, we will be briefing Nigerians on this project in the days ahead.”