From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Abuja
Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Dr. Musa Aliyu has opened up on how one national hospital project was paid for, 100 percent, by government officials, five times, without even building the hospital.
At an interactive parley with media executives in Abuja, yesterday, he disclosed that the non-existent hospital case was only one of many instances of the endemic corruption in the country and that it must not be allowed to continue.
“There was a case of a hospital which was paid for; 100 percent, five times! Yet, there was nothing to show for it. That tells you how bad the problem of corruption has become. We cannot continue like this. All of us should join hands to tackle corruption in this country. Fighting corruption is not easy because when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. Those involved in corruption are united in their evil. They try to lie against us in order to discredit what we are doing. But as a nation, all well-meaning members of the public must join hands to tackle corruption. We don’t have an option. If we don’t tackle corruption, our children will have no future. If we don’t fight corruption, those involved will wreck the economy and we will all suffer for it.”
Dr. Aliyu also gave another instance of the corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) where a government official listed his wife, son and an inlaw in the payroll.
He said the son was a mere student, whose name appeared on government payroll.
The ICPC chairman added that N20 billion which would have been taken by officials of another agency was blocked, attesting to the commission’s strategy of proactive actions, to prevent frauds in the MDAs.
On the role of the media in partnering with ICPC to tackle corruption in the country, he urged practitioners and well-meaning members of the public to sign-up to the fight against corruption.
He, then, appealed to Nigerians to see the anti-corruption fight as a duty, particularly given the commitment to enthroning a just, prosperous nation, adding that corruption must be dealt with for the nation to witness the socio-economic development of Nigerians’ dream.
His team, he revealed, has commenced intense budgetary analysis, as well as, tracking and had, in some cases blocked provisions where it was obvious that public funds would be miss-used.