ICPC begins tracking of 550 projects in 18 states

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has announced the commencement of the fourth phase of its Constituency and Executive Projects tracking exercise. 

A total of 550 projects in 18 states have been listed for tracking. The exercise, which is to commence on the May 9, 2022, will specifically focus on Federal Government funded capital projects. 

ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, who disclosed this in Abuja, on Friday, said the states are Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Edo, Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti states, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTI) is an initiative of the ICPC that commenced in 2019 with the aim of promoting social accountability and transparency in the conception, execution and management of public funded projects as well as ensuring value-for-money in the execution of the projects. 

According to Ogugua, the first phase of the exercise in 2019 had a total of 424 projects tracked across 12 states, while the second and third phases conducted in 2020 and 2021 featured 722 projects in 16 states; and 1, 098 projects in 16 other states and the FCT respectively. 

She noted that the focal sectors of the phase four exercises are education, health, water resources, power sector, agriculture and rural development among others.

“The mandate of the tracking exercise is to investigate fraudulent procurement practices in the award of contracts for the projects, ensure projects are executed to the specified standard and that value-for-money is obtained. It monitors the implementation of the projects from inception to completion in collaboration with critical stakeholders, and make recoveries on projects confirmed to have been inflated or in which contractors under-performed or did not perform at all.

“In addition, the objectives of the tracking initiative include compelling the return of runaway contractors to sites to complete hitherto abandoned projects, tracking contracting companies for all statutory regulatory compliance, among others as well as prosecuting persons or institutions found culpable in undermining the execution of government funded projects,” she added.