N2.67b supposedly used to feed school children during lockdown found in private accounts – ICPC

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC says it has uncovered up to N2.67 billion meant for school feeding during the COVID-19 lockdown in personal bank accounts.

The Chairman of ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, disclosed this on Monday, September 28, while delivering a keynote address at the second National Summit on Diminishing Corruption with the theme: “Together Against Corruption and the launch of the National Ethics and Integrity Policy” held at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The ICPC chairman also disclosed that it recently uncovered over N2.5 billion diverted by a deceased senior civil servant in the Ministry of Agriculture and his cronies. He highlighted other assets recovered in the Agric ministry to include 18 buildings, 12 business premises and 25 plots of land.

According to Owasanoye, under the Open Treasury Portal review carried out between January to August 15, 2020, out of 268 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), 72 of them had cumulative infractions of N90 million. He said while 33 MDAs tendered explanations that N4.1 billion was transferred to sub-TSA, N4.2 billion paid to individuals had no satisfactory explanations.

“We observed that transfers to sub-TSA was to prevent disbursement from being monitored. Nevertheless, we discovered payments to some federal colleges for school feeding in the sum of N2.67 billion during lockdown when the children are not in school, and some of the money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these finding.” Owasanoye said

The ICPC boss also said under its 2020 constituency and executive projects tracking initiative, 722 projects with a threshold of N100 million (490 ZiP and 232 executive) was tracked across 16 states.

He mentioned that a number of projects described as ongoing in the budget were found to be new projects that ought to have been excluded in order to enable the government to complete existing projects.

He also observed the absence of needs assessment resulted in projects recommended for communities that do not require them being abandoned; projects sited in private houses on private land thus appropriating common asset to personal use, hence denying communities of the benefit; absence of synergy between outgoing project sponsors and their successors.

Owasanoye added that the commission also found that uncompleted projects sponsored by legislators who do not return get abandoned to the loss of the community and the state; use of companies owned by sponsor’s friends or relatives or companies belonging to civil servants in implementing MDAs to execute projects which are abandoned or poorly performed; conspiracy between legislative aides of sponsors and implementing MDAs and contractors to undermine the quality of project without knowledge of the sponsor; vague project description that results in the diversion of funds by implementing MDAs or project sponsor with the collusion of contractors and absence of community ownership of the project because they were not consulted or largely ignorant of projects allocated to them.

Prof Owasanoye said in the education sector, 78 MDAs were reviewed and common cases of misuse of funds were uncovered.

He listed some of the discoveries to include life payment of bulk sums to individuals/staff accounts, including project funds; non-deductions/remittance of taxes and IGR; payments of unapproved allowances, bulk payment to microfinance banks, payment of arrears of salary and other allowances of previous years from 2020 budget, payment of salary advance to staff, under-deduction of PAYE and payment of promotion arrears due to surplus in Personnel Cost, abuse and granting of cash advances above the approved threshold and irregular payment of allowances to principal officers.

18 Comments

  1. What is wrong with Nigerians. Must we continue to be hearing this type of rubbish annoying stories
    They have been doing this and it has been leading us to no where instead we are even retrogressing
    God will judge all these looters. Useless fools

  2. I am sick and tired of this country, upon all the sufferings of the masses, people are still looting away our common treasury
    This is pure wickedness of the highest order
    The idiots that pepertrated this crime should be dealt with and if possible stoned ti death
    We cannot continue this way, enough is enough

  3. The current corruption at the moment is beyond explanation, I could remember vividly when the minister of humanitarian affairs said he has spent #13.5 billion naira on school feeding program which she called home feeding then. Why are we doing this to ourselves? Why are those people we called our leaders are callous the money meant for group of people shiphoned by few people. They should be prosecuted and jailed them.

  4. People attitude will not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.its may be for reason.

  5. Federal Colleges For School Feeding In The Sum Of N2.67 Billion During Lockdown When The Children Are Not In School, And Some Of The Money Ended Up In Personal Accounts. We Have Commenced the govermnent to do some about the money.

  6. This is act is called wickednessor even wickedness because the money that is meant for millions of people spent by few people. If we troop out enmass to register our grievances, I don’t think those people are ready to change because they have turned corruption to habit and nobody to check them.

  7. If stiff punishment doesn’t take place those people will still continue to steal the common wealth of the masses. They have turned stealing to their normal life and they think they can’t be separated from it. Our judiciary is weak and as well as our law. They should impose severe punishment on them otherwise they will continue steal the money.

  8. The ICPC are really working,pls the country need more of your effort and good work. I believe most of the corrupt politicians will be under cover so the ICPC wont investigate their Asset. I just pray they don’t corrupt the ICPC the same way EFCC was corrupt

  9. I knew it that a day like this will come because I never believed that they was anything like feeding children at home I know that they re just using it to pack money God will expose them all

  10. How in the world were they feeding children during the lockdown?,Please ICPC help us to bring it out for suffering populace. they never knew it will be. known and reveal

  11. Whose personal bank account? does the account has no name? you will continue to cover and yet you are fighting corruption.
    Publish the account details so that we know who thief is.

  12. Since there’s no school during luckdown the money that was provided for school fees should be return to federal government. If it’s fun in separate account is totally absurd and corrupted.

  13. How can they fund money that suppose to meant for school feeding in separate account. No school because of covid-19 luck down, the money suppose to to return to federal government or unturchable.

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