From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Independent Corrupt Practice and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has commenced the tracking of 46 Constituency and Executive projects worth billions of naira in Bayelsa State.
This was made known by the Assistant Chief Superintendent of ICPC, ACSI Afolabi Kolawole in Yenagoa during the field tracking of various project sites.
He disclosed that the exercise is an initiative of the Commission aimed at ensuring projects are executed according to approved specifications, ensuring good governance, transparency and accountability through proper implementation of government projects across the country, in line with the Commission’s preventive and enforcement mandates.
According to Kolawole the projects tracked so far and others to be tracked cut across various constituencies in all the eight (8) Local Governments Areas of the State.
He noted that it is the sixth phase of the Commission’s Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking initiative (CEPTi) programme which is currently underway in several states across the country to ensure that government projects targeted at meeting the needs of the people are not thwarted.
His words “We have 46 projects to track in Bayelsa spread across all the eight local government areas in the state worth billions of naira and such large and huge money if gone to waste you know what it means for our nation at this time.
“Every project of the government is targeted strategically at meeting the needs of the people. So, every government seeks to satisfy and make life comfortable for its people and when you see governments doing intervention and zonal projects, they are to make life more comfortable for people and to meet strategic needs.
“The objective of this exercise is to verify and ensure monies committed into government projects are actually spent judiciously and for its purpose and at the end of the day the people targeted to enjoy and benefit from it have those projects being used.”
Kolawole seized the opportunity to advise contractors to always ensure the right thing is being done for the benefits of the people.
‘’As government funds and assets are being recovered, and contractors are moving back to sites through the Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking initiative, the general public is assured that the Commission will not rest on its laurel until the objectives of the exercise of improved service delivery to the people, value for money in the implementation of government projects, and improved opportunities to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), are achieved. While the Commission continues to track government projects across the nation, all lawful measures will be employed to punish infractions discovered,’’ he added.