Report: Only three of 614 public probes concluded since 1999
Stakeholders working towards a corrupt-free society have raised the alarm over the alleged abandonment of over 600 grand corruption probes involving trillions of naira by agencies established by law to recover stolen funds for the country.
Most of the cases, according to them, were abandoned by the National Assembly, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other investigative panels constituted by the government to address corruption allegations.
A report by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI) revealed that only three of 614 investigative probes related to corruption have been concluded since 1999.
The Centre noted that some of the probes, which were mostly initiated at the National Assembly by anti-corruption agencies, lasted for over 3,000 days without conclusion and public disclosure.
Data obtained by The Guardian from the Probes Monitor portal, developed by CeFTPI, revealed that the country managed to conclude only three of the 614 corruption probes it initiated through various governmental bodies between 1999 and 2023.
Most of the abandoned cases include the engagement of forensic experts to investigate the procedures adopted by telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria, the then Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu Enelamah, and four banks in repatriating $13.9 billion from Nigerian shores by the Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance chaired by Rafiu Ibrahim in 2016. These cases lasted 2,791 days.
In 2017, EFCC) also opened an investigation into the alleged diversion of N525 billion by the former Abia State governor, which has lasted for 2,643 days without further information from the commission.
In 2021, the House of Representatives launched an investigation into the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over a contract on behalf of Nigeria with a foreign private company, HLS International Limited, for the supply of security equipment and systems worth $214.83 million, including $195.3 million for the actual contract and additional $19.53 million, which has lasted for 1,128 days.
The Senate, in 2021, also probed the Budget Office Director-General’s alleged payment of N19 billion to four Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs) without the approval of the supervising Minister of Finance, which has lasted for 973 days.
EFCC has also used 859 days in probing the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) sale of N144 billion properties seized from suspected oil thieves.
Similarly, ICPC, in 2022, also began a probe into N1.68 billion assets linked to Lagos State Commissioner, which has also lasted for 1,394 days.
Founder of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), Dr OtiveIgbuzor, regretted that despite the plethora of legislations and agencies fighting corruption in the country, corruption had remained widespread and pervasive because of failure to utilise universally accepted and tested strategies.
He blamed the development on the disconnect between the posturing of leaders and their conduct as well as the lack of concrete sustainable anti-corruption programming and failure to locate the anti-corruption struggle within a broader struggle to transform society.
To deal with corruption, Igbuzor advised the authorities to focus on sanctions, systems and society.
Speaking at a public dialogue on the abandoned probes, Igbuzor, who chaired the event, said the non-conclusion of the investigative probes showed that they were meant to divert public attention from the huge corruption going on at the various levels of government.
Earlier, Executive Director of the Centre, Umar Yakubu, explained that the Centre in 2022 developed the Probes Monitor portal as a depository of information on “grand-corruption-related investigations that were made public between 1999 till date that have not been concluded.”
