From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), has disclosed that it has tracked 18 projects in Kebbi State in phase four of its Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Exercise.
Malam Saidu Yahaya, the Assistant Chief Superintendent, who is the Team Leader in the exercise, made this known in Birnin Kebbi sortly after the conclusion of the exercise.
He said,” The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), commenced the tracking of the projects in the state on May 9 as part of the 550 projects to be tracked by the commission in 18 states in phase four of its Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Exercise.
“The exercise specifically focused on Executive Projects which are the Federal Government funded capital projects in all the 12 local government areas of the state.”
Yahaya added that the initiative of the ICPC was aimed at 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.
“The focal sectors of the phase four exercise remained Education, Health, Water Resources, Agriculture, and Rural Development as well as Power sectors, among others.
“The mandate of the exercise is to ensure projects are executed according to specifications and make recoveries on projects confirmed to have been inflated, or in which contractors under-performed or did not perform at all,” he said.
He explained that the commission had directed some contractors to go back to the site for failure to fully comply with the specifications of their affected projects in the state.
“The commission has observed the under-utilisation of three million litres water project in Bunza town, in Bunza Local Government Area due to lack of electricity and diesel to power the plant.
“Investigation into the affected projects is still ongoing, and corresponding findings would guide the Commission on the succeeding appropriate actions, and or sanctions,” Yahaya said.
The CEPTI, an initiative of the ICPC, commenced in 2019.
It is aimed at 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.