The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has kicked off the 7th phase of the constituency and executive projects tracking exercise involving 1,500 schemes valued at N610 billion.
Spokesperson for the ICPC, Mr. Demola Bakare, said this in a statement in Abuja, yesterday.
According to Bakare, the exercise was an initiative of the commission that began in 2019.
He said it focused on how well money allocated to critical sectors like education, health, agriculture, water resources and power among others, was utilised.
“The 7th phase, involving 1,500 projects with a total project value of N610 billion, commenced on November 18 in the FCT and 21 states across the six geopolitical zones.
“They are Kwara, Niger, Kogi, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Abia and Enugu states and FCT.
“The tracking exercise will cut across agencies of government, including intervention agencies such as North-East Development Commission (NEDC) and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).”
He said that other agencies were National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
Bakare said that it also included National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and Ecological Fund Office.
He said the objective of the exercise was to deepen adherence to due process in the execution of government projects, and improve value for money.
According to him, it was also to entrench the culture of compliance with the scope and specification as contained in the contract documents.
“The ICPC tracked a total of 1,900 projects valued at N500 billion in the sixth phase of the exercise across 24 states of the nation’s six geopolitical zones.
“The projects were tracked within the focal sectors of education, water resources, agriculture, power, health, energy and roads. These projects in the sixth phase were awarded to a total of 1,355 contractors in 176 MDAs,” he said.