By Joy Odor
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has kicked off the phase 7 of the Constituency and Executive Project Tracking Exercise, involving 1500 projects with a total project value of N610 billion in 22 states across the 6 geopolitical zones.
According to Demola Bakare, the
Ag. Director, Public Enlightenment and Education/Spokesperson for the Commission in a press statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, the States are Kwara, Niger, Kogi, FCT, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Abia and Enugu State.
The Spokesperson opined that the phase 7 tracking exercise will cut across agencies of government including intervention agencies such as North-East Development Commission (NEDC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and Ecological Fund Office.
Bakare affirmed that the tracking of constituency and executive projects is an initiative of the Commission that began in 2019, focusing on how well money allocated to critical sectors of education, health, agriculture, water resources and power amongst others, by the government are utilized.
He mentioned that the objective of the exercise is to deepen adherence to due process in the execution of government projects, improve value for money, and 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 naira in phase 6 of the exercise across 24 states of the nation’s 6 geopolitical zones.
“The projects were tracked within the focal sectors of Education, Water Resources, Agriculture, Power, Health, Energy, and Roads.
“These projects in the 6th phase were awarded to a total of 1,355 contractors in 176 MDAs” he noted.