By Our Reporter
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has vowed to recover funds for abandoned projects executed by National Assembly members representing Ekiti state, as it commenced a special tracking exercise of constituency projects worth N657 million across the three Senatorial Districts of State.
The exercise is aimed at physically verifying and conducting performance audits on 10 projects facilitated by National Assembly members representing the state, worth N657 million.
Speaking with journalists during the exercise, the Chief Superintendent of Investigation at ICPC covering Ondo and Ekiti, Andrew Osove, said the statewide exercise is part of the commission’s efforts to promote transparency, accountability and value for money in public infrastructure spending and service delivery.
He said the commission deployed joint teams comprising investigators and engineers, including professionals from the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), to inspect the projects across the three senatorial districts of the state, cutting across key sectors including power, water, road infrastructure, education, health and agriculture.
Osove said the tracking exercise was specifically aimed at determining whether projects awarded for execution in communities through National Assembly members and ministers had actually been implemented and delivered in accordance with approved specifications.
He stressed that the commission’s responsibility went beyond establishing whether a project existed physically at its designated location, noting that the quality of work and compliance with approved specifications were equally important considerations.
According to him, the ICPC would examine the extent of execution, quality of materials used and other relevant specifications to determine whether taxpayers were receiving value for the funds committed to the projects.
The ICPC official warned contractors handling public projects against abandoning projects after receiving contract payments, stressing that the commission would take appropriate corrective measures whenever violations were discovered.
His words, “We are in Ekiti today to track 10 projects worth about 650 million naira. The thrust of this exercise, or tracking exercise, is to ensure that National Assembly members and ministers who have been issued contracts to execute projects in communities have actually executed those projects.
“The ICPC is not just particular about execution of projects. We are also particular about execution of those projects to specification and this is done in order to guarantee value for money.
“So far in Ekiti, we have just begun, but from experience, what we have gathered is that some people actually get contracts and they don’t even go to those sites. That is from the experience in our team and other teams across the country.
“Others go, but it’s because those projects are not to specification. And in situations where people don’t execute projects, we either ask them to go back to site and execute them, or we recover the worth of that project.
“Even in instances where they are not executed to specification, the difference in value of what is not done is either returned, or they complete it or fix it.
“That is the thrust of the exercise”.
