•To enforce contractors’ accountability, monitoring and adherence specifications
•Team deployed to 36 states and the FCT
By Mariyah Adamu, Abuja
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Federal Ministry of Works have commenced a nationwide Special Tracking Exercise with a view to ensuring transparency and value in public infrastructure spending.
ICPC spokesman, Akor Odey, who stated this in a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday pointed out that the initiative involves the physical verification and performance audit of 760 federal road projects with a combined contract value of over N36 trillion.
Odey, stated that “The exercise, which commenced on Nov. 14, mobilises joint teams of ICPC investigators, engineers from the Federal Ministry of Works, and independent professionals from bodies including the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, NIQS.
“These teams are now deployed across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to conduct on-the-ground assessments”.
According to him, this large-scale initiative was designed to achieve several critical national objectives.
These include: enhancing fiscal governance, to ensure sustainable, cost-effective infrastructure development and optimal use of public funds.
Others, he said included strengthening procurement integrity to investigate and deter fraudulent practices in the award of government contracts.
According to him, part of the objectives also included enforcing contractor accountability, to monitor project execution rigorously, compel the completion of abandoned projects, and ensure adherence to contractual specifications.
Besides, another objective was securing financial recovery, to recover public funds from projects found to be grossly inflated or where contractors have demonstrably failed to perform, Odey stated.
“The ongoing field work involves a detailed review of project sites, records, and deliverables. Following this phase, state-level reports will be consolidated into a comprehensive national audit report.
In this vein, “The findings will highlight compliance levels, identify irregularities, and form the basis for determined enforcement actions by relevant authorities against any implicated individuals or entities.
“This exercise represents a proactive, system-driven approach to safeguarding our national infrastructure investments”.
The spokesman further said that, tracking 760 projects of this magnitude underscores our resolve to partner with government institutions in closing leakages, promoting accountability, and ensuring that public projects translate into tangible public good.
He then reiterated that the commission’s commitment to collaborative governance efforts aimed at fortifying the integrity of Nigeria’s public procurement and project execution framework.
