SAN FRANCISCO, November 19, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the over N1 trillion spent on the constituency projects of National Assembly members in the last 10 years has produced no results.
Buhari spoke at the National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in Public Sector, organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
“N1tn has been appropriated in the last 10 years for constituency projects, but the impact can hardly be seen,” he stated.
The President directed the ICPC to go after the contractors who collected funds for such projects and their collaborators in government as he called on the National Assembly to fast-track the passage of the Special Crimes Court Bill and urged the judiciary to embrace and support the creation of a Special Crimes Court.
‘‘The fight against corruption is of course not only for government and anti-corruption agencies alone. All arms and tiers of government must develop and implement the anti-corruption measures,” he said, according to a statement by the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina.
‘‘I invite the legislative and judicial arms of government to embrace and support the creation of Special Crimes Court that Nigerians have been agitating for to handle corruption cases.’’
Mr Buhari said the passage of the Bill was a ‘‘specific priority’’ of this administration’s Economic Recovery & Growth Plan 2017-2020.
Speaking on his recent directive to all agencies of government to enroll into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the president directed ICPC to beam its searchlight on public institutions that are yet to comply.
He noted that the new directive on IPPIS was intended to halt the padding of personnel budgets and the diversion or misappropriation of capital budgets.
‘‘I am aware that the Commission recently conducted System Studies and Review of many MDAs to evaluate systems and processes relating to transparency and accountability in personnel and capital spending through which you successfully blocked over N9 billion from being diverted from 2019 personnel budget.
‘‘That was a proactive prevention measure. I have directed that all agencies of government must get on the IPPIS in order to eliminate the padding of personnel budgets.
‘‘I urge ICPC to beam its searchlight on all agencies yet to get on the IPPIS and our e-government platform in order to fully halt the padding of personnel budgets and the diversion or misappropriation of capital budgets.
‘‘The war against corruption cannot be won without prevention, enforcement, public education and enlightenment.
‘‘I encourage the ICPC and other law enforcement agencies to intensify their efforts in public education, enlightenment and engagement with citizens.
‘‘I also urge our development partners, civil society organizations, and the media to continue to support our efforts to strengthen ethical values and integrity in Nigeria,’’ he said.
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