The fight against
corruption may have taken a new dimension as Independent Corrupt Practices and
other related offenses Commission (ICPC) operatives
may have been specially assigned to chase after ‘super rich’ public officers who
have multiple properties and other assets suspected to have been the rewards of
graft.
For now, Ashiwaju.org
gathered that the searchlight of the anti-corruption agents was on civil
servants that possess many properties in the Federal Capital Territory.
We learnt in
Abuja on Wednesday that operatives in the Assets Tracing, Recovery and
Management Unit of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences
Commission had been asked to haul in suspects for interrogation and recovery of
ill-gotten assets in their possession.
It was also gathered
that the ICPC had strengthened the ATRMU by posting more personnel to the unit
to ensure the success of its campaign.
An operative at
the ICPC, who confided in one of our correspondents, said the ICPC was using
the anti-corruption transparency unit of the commission in ministries,
departments and agencies to coordinate the ongoing investigation of the “super
rich” civil servants in the country.
It was learnt
that the ICPC was relying on petitions from civil servants and the ACTU
operatives to carry out its investigations into the activities of the affected
civil servants.
It was gathered
that the ICPC operatives’ focus had been on civil servants who have more than
three properties and a fleet of cars beyond their income.
Although the
source did not mention the number of civil servants that had been quizzed in
relation to the new move to check fraud in the civil service, it was learnt
that several personnel of the civil service had been placed under watch by the
ICPC.
The source, who
spoke to Ashiwaju.org, said any civil servant found to have compromised his
office to acquire wealth would be charged to court after the proceeds of the
corrupt acts would have been confiscated by the Federal Government.
The source said,
“The ICPC is intensifying efforts to retrieve some of these stolen assets from
those involved.
“You know that
the commission has a unit called the Assets Tracing, Recovery and Management
Unit. This is the unit that is involved in probing those who have such assets
with stolen funds.
“In fact the
operatives are working very discreetly on the issue but the focus of the ICPC’s
probe is the civil service.
“Those civil
servants living a life beyond their means, their lifestyles are under watch.
People are monitoring them, whistle-blowers are writing petitions and the Assets
Recovery Unit is following up on them.
“Another thing is
that we have the Anti-Corruption Transparency Units in all the agencies; these
units are being supervised by our officers. They are collaborating with
whistle-blowers in the various ministries and agencies…”
When Ashiwaju.org
contacted the Resident Consultant, Media and Events of the ICPC, Mr. Folu
Olamiti, for his comment on the telephone, he said that he was aware of the
presence of the ARMTU and its constitutional functions but asked our us to call
back for a response on the current investigation.
However,
Ashiwaju.org could not get him to comment on the story as the subsequent calls
to his mobile telephone did not connect.
The Federal
Government has expressed its worry about the rate of corruption in the civil
service.
The Chairman of
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Lamorde, had in the past
urged a former Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji,
to put in place an internal mechanism to check the negative trend.
The commission
had in a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, quoted Lamorde as
citing the involvement of civil servants in the pension fraud investigations.
Lamorde had
said, “You should look inward and focus
on issues of welfare that may be the cause of the incessant corrupt acts. Even
though this is not an excuse before the law, we should be able to ask ourselves
why for example most properties in the Federal Capital Territory are found to
be owned by civil servants through proxies.”
The Ahmed Joda
Transition Committee has also lamented the corruption and inefficiency in the
civil service.
The committee, in
its report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari, noted that the public
service was characterised by weak governance, bureaucratic bottlenecks and low
professional standards.
In the report, a
copy of which was obtained by The PUNCH on Wednesday, the committee said that
there was low productivity, graft as well as inefficiency in the civil service.
It recommended
that the public service should place emphasis on performance
According to the
committee, government should “implement a merit-based performance management
system, recruitment and deployment process.”
It added that
government should “set clearly defined goals and targets for public officers
and consequences for non-implementation.”
