September 15, (THEWILL) – The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), on Thursday, disclosed that the N13.59 trillion 2021 budget was padded by the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with duplicated projects to the tune of N300 billion.
The anti-graft Commission, also said that project duplication worth about N100 billion was inserted into the 2022 budget by some MDAs, aside from N49.9 billion tracked as salaries for ghost workers between January and June this year.
ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, made the revelation on Thursday, during an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Finance, in preparation for the 2023 budget.
The anti-graft agency boss told the Committee that N13.59 trillion was illegally inserted into the 2021 budget by MDAs, with duplicated projects amounting to N300 billion.
He also disclosed that another N100 billion worth of duplicated projects were inserted into the N17.12 trillion 2022 budget; besides N49.9 billion tracked as salaries for ghost workers between January and June 2022.
Reeling out the figures, the ICPC Chairman, said that the N300 billion duplicated projects in the 2021 budget and N100 billion in the 2022 budget were uncovered after a thorough scrutiny of projects approved for MDAs.
“N300 billion would have been wasted by the Federal government on duplicated projects inserted into the 2021 budget and N100 billion for the same purpose in the current fiscal year if not tracked and intercepted by ICPC.
“The same preemptive move saved the country from spending N49.9 billion for salaries of ghost workers put on fictitious payrolls by the fraudulent MDAs between January and June this year.
“Names of MDAs involved in projects duplications running into intercepted billions of Naira and fictitious payrolls, are available and will be forwarded to the committee.
“The good thing about the preemptive moves made by us, is that monies for the fraudulent acts were prevented from being released to the affected MDAs and it is gratifying that the Finance Ministry and Accountant General Office cooperated with us”, he said.
Owasanoye urged the relevant committees of the National Assembly to look out for such project duplication as MDAs submit their proposals for the N19.76 trillion 2023 budget.
“From our own end, detection of such projects are done by verifying their locations and names, upon which we tell the appropriate authorities not to release wrongly budgeted monies for them”, he added.
In his remarks, the Committee Chairman, APC Lagos West, Senator Solomon Adeola, assured that ICPC operational cost will be increased beyond N1.8 billion.
He explained that “this committee is impressed by the proactive ways your commission is adopting in the fight against corruption. Your submissions clearly show that all hope is not lost for our dear country as far as fighting corruption is concerned.
“Your operational cost which is N1.8 billion will be increased as the required impetus for more proactive measures against corrupt practices across the various MDAs.”
The finance committee’s sitting continues on Friday.
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