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Tag: ICPC

  • ICPC orders Okiro-led PSC to refund N145m

    THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has ordered the Police Service Commission (PSC) to refund N145.16 million to the Federation Account.

    The money was part of the N350 million election monitoring funds.

    The directed was contained in a document signed by the Chairman of ICPC, Ekpo Nta, in Abuja yesterday.

    “The total amount of N133, 413,845.99 from the N350 million 2015 election monitoring exercise domiciled within FCMB be remitted to the Federal Treasury through the ICPC recovery account at Zenith Bank,” the directive  said.

    The commission also directed all staff who took part in the election monitoring to refund the N11.7 million paid to them as two-way return ticket and airport taxi within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to the federal treasury through ICPC recovery account.

    Nta said: “The Police Service Commission paid DTA to all staff including those based in Abuja that participated in the training progarmme held within Abuja.

    “The investigation has not revealed any criminal infraction against Mike Okiro as all issues outlined above are administrative in nature.”

    It was confirmed that Mr. Okiro collected five days each for two conferences that ran simultaneously in Dublin and Orlando, Florida.

    “However, it was discovered that he expended the entire 10 days on the trip using the ticket-fare for Abuja-Dublin-Abuja,” it said.

    According to the document, Mr. Okiro has written to the Presidency to expend the ticket-fare for Abuja-Orlando-Abuja on another trip coming up in October.

    It said that if the presidency approved his request, the matter would be considered by the commission.

    “However, if approval is refused, the fund thereof should be returned to the Police Service Commission and ICPC so informed,” he said.

    The document said that the commission accepted the explanation by PSC that due process could not be strictly adhered to because of time constraint.

    A staff of PSC, Aaron Kaase, had petitioned the ICPC that Mr. Okiro swindled the PSC of more than N275 million from the N350 million meant for training of its staff to monitor the conduct of the 2015 election.

     

     

  • ICPC grills Orubebe for alleged N605m fraud

    ICPC grills Orubebe for alleged N605m fraud

    Former Niger Delta Affairs Minister Godsday Orubebe has been quizzed in connection with the ongoing investigation of an alleged N605million fraud.

    The cash was withdrawn from the Constituency Project account of the ministry by five officials without authorisation while Orubebe was in charge.

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed charges against the five. They are: Yusuf Agabi (Director of Finance and Account), Akpore Okeroghene (Deputy Director of Finance), Abibu Ayinla (Director of Finance), Idowu Adewale (Deputy Director, Accounts) and Ngozi James (Deputy Director, Accounts).

    According to the Chief Legal Officer of the ICPC, Paul Ahmed, the suspects “fraudulently withdrew N605 million from the Constituency Project account of the ministry without authorisation” between July 2013 and October 2014.

    They were alleged to have made fictitious claims through payment vouchers to cover up the alleged fraud.

    Although Justice Husseini Baba of the FCT High Court fixed September 16 for the arraignment of the suspects, the ICPC intensified its investigation by inviting Orubebe.

    According to the fact-sheet obtained from the commission, Orubebe spent about two and a half hours on Monday with a team of investigators.

    Orubebe arrived at about 9.59am and left at about 12.28pm.

    It was not immediately clear if Orubebe was in any way connected with the alleged fraud or he is being prepared as a witness.

    A source in ICPC said: “In spite of the fact that we have filed charges against five directors in the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the investigation into the fraud is open-ended.

    “Certainly, we still have some gaps to fill on the case because we are suspecting that there might be more accomplices in the system.

    “Orubebe was in charge of the ministry when the fraud was perpetrated; we need to find out from him how things went wrong. Perhaps, he may give more insights.

    “What we did was to ask a team of investigators to interact with the former Minister especially on the accounting procedure and authorisation of funds in the ministry.”

    A top official of the ICPC said: “Without prejudice to the ongoing court process, our operatives interacted with Orubebe but we cannot give details.”

    Orubebe did not pick calls made to his telephone lines yesterday.

    A text message sent to him was also unacknowledged.

    The last public outing of Orubebe was when he created a scene at the International Conference Centre in an attempt to abort the collation of the results of the March 28 Presidential Election.

  • ICPC files charge against  five directors over N605m fraud

    ICPC files charge against  five directors over N605m fraud

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has filed a charge against five directors of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, accusing them of among others, defrauding the ministry of N605m between July 2013 and October 2014.

    They are Yusuf Agabi (Director of Finance and Account),  Akpore Okeroghene (Deputy Director of Fiance), Abibu Ayinla (Director of Finance), Idowu Adewale (Deputy Director Accounts) and Ngozi James (Deputy Director Accounts).

    They were to be arraigned yesterday  before Justice Husseini Baba of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja on the 46-count charge, but for the absence of some of the accused in court.

    Justice Baba has fixed  September 16  for their arraignment.

    The accused persons, who were at various times Directors of Finance and Deputy Directors of Finance in the Niger Delta Ministry, allegedly siphoned the money from the Constituency Project account of the ministry under fraudulent claims.

    ICPC’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Ahmed, who signed the charge filed on July 7, alleged that the accused persons fraudulently withdrew the total sum of N605m from the Constituency Project account of the ministry without authorisation.

    The ICPC also alleged that the accused persons perpetrated the fraud using fictitious claims through payment vouchers containing false information.

    Some of them were said to have used the proceeds to build private houses.

    Part of the charge reads: “That you Ayinla Abibu (m) in the month of March 2013 or thereabout, at Abuja, being a public officer to wit: Director of Finance at the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, did receive for yourself through a ZEOCAT NIG LTD, the sum of N60m  belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria knowing same to have been obtained fraudulently from the account of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs which you used to build a house at Ogbomosho, Oyo State, for yourself and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 13 and punishable under section 68 of the Corrupt Practices Act 2000.

    “That you Yusuf Mohammed Agabi, Akpore Okeroghene, Idowu Anthony Adewale and Ntu  James Ngozi, between months of January 2013 and December 2013, at Abuja being agents of the Federal Government did engage in a criminal conspiracy to present documents to your principal which were defective in material particular and designed to mislead for the purposes of fraudulently obtaining various sums of money from your principal thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 26(1)(c)and  punishable under Section 17(1)(c)of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act, 2000.”

  • ICPC arrests fake medical doctor over visa scam

    ICPC arrests fake medical doctor over visa scam

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has arrested a fake doctor in connection with a visa scam.

    George Dawari, according to the ICPC, was arrested on June 5, 2015 on the strength of a petition alleging that he demanded the sum of N450,000 from a couple for the purpose of  procuring a five-year visa to the United States for each of them.

    During a search of the suspect’s residence in Abuja, ICPC operatives recovered some medical equipment, including a stethoscope and medical overall bearing his name.

    He had earlier told the petitioners that he was a doctor and offered to administer drugs on one of them.

    Also found in the suspect’s house were six green Nigerian passports, four of which had been stamped with the United States visas.

    The passports were declared to be fake by the US Embassy after scrutiny.

    The suspect is to be charged to court for violating section 16 of the ICPC Act 2000 and section 321 of the Penal Code.

     

  • ICPC moves against corrupt officials at airports

    ICPC moves against corrupt officials at airports

    The war to rid the international airports in the country of corruption got a boost yesterday when members of the Project Advisory Committee on the Corruption Risk Assessment (CRA) in the aviation sector were inaugurated in the office of the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation in Abuja.

    The inauguration was a follow up to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Federal Ministry of Aviation (FMA) last December in Lagos.

    A member of the ICPC and Chairman of the joint committee, Alhaji Ozi Salami,  said the collaboration had yielded several gains, which included public enlightenment campaigns against corruption at the airports, surveillance and intelligence gathering activities as well as a sting operation to arrest perpetrators of corruption.

    Salami added that reports since the last sting operation showed that there was an awareness of the presence of the commission at the airports and this had reduced impunity.

    He said: “There is a need to continue the tempo of the intervention, so that the anti-corruption message will be consolidated.

    “CRA is a corruption prevention tool, which works with organisations’ management to identify vulnerable areas that are prone to corruption, proffer recommendations, and develop integrity plans that would strengthen accountability and transparency towards checking corruption and enhancing service delivery.

    “It is focused on studying organisational systems and operational environments with a view to addressing identified corruption risks therein. It is pertinent to emphasise that CRA is not a criminal investigation, but rather a study of systems with a view to recommend a review to reduce corruption.”

  • N1.9b Ebola Fund: ICPC interrogates perm sect, others

    N1.9b Ebola Fund: ICPC interrogates perm sect, others

    Heads may roll in the Ministry of Health over the management of the N1.9billion Ebola Fund, it was learnt yesterday.

    Already, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Linus Awute, and other key figures in the ministry were grilled for hours on Monday over the Ebola spending by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

    The officers are to report back at a later date with necessary documents to show how the N1.9 billion released to the ministry was disbursed.

    A source at the commission confirmed the interrogation of the Permanent Secretary and some Directors, which lasted for hours.

    The source, who pleaded anonimity, said head would roll in the ministry given the information at the commission’s disposal.

     

  • EFCC, ICPC warn new lawmakers against corruption

    EFCC, ICPC warn new lawmakers against corruption

    Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) chair, Mr. Ekpo Nta yesterday asked newly-elected members of state Houses of Assembly to shun corruption or face the consequences.

    He also urged the lawmakers to avoid scrambling for contract awards.

    He said if the lawmakers engage in corruption, the law will take its course.

    Nta, who warned the lawmakers at an induction course for them by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) in Abuja, said it is a corrupt act for lawmakers to dabble in Executive functions.

    He said: “As members of the National Assembly, you will be under very severe pressure to undermine all the provisions of the laudable laws you have passed or will pass.

    “Your constituencies will remind you constantly that you are here through their votes and that in return, you must fund all their future marriages, naming ceremonies, burials, provision of scholarships, potable water and electricity, jobs in selected government offices either as your PA or full time employment.

    “It is the position of the law that the lawmakers themselves made and made certain Acts punishable under the law and we are not the one who will punish.

    “We simply present the facts to the court that this is what has happened in this instance, and the court will decide whether we were right or they were right in doing it”.

    “What I’m saying is that I’m giving you an advice now, if you take that advice, we will remain friends but if you don’t take that advice and do things which under the law are not correct, we will now have to invite you to come and address us on petitions we have received in respect of an infraction”.

    He said the practice whereby lawmakers lobby for contracts and appointments amounted to abuse of public office for private gain.

    But Nta challenged the lawmakers to hold ministries, departments and agencies accountable to improve the living standard of Nigerians.

    He added: “All the roads leading to your communities must be tarred, and if already tarred provided with street lights, sponsor medical treatments abroad or locally. How do you intend to fund all these activities? The answer is yours to provide.

    “How can you provide all these? Hold all the agencies that should provide social services strictly accountable by demanding accountability and openness.

    The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde said the commission will have to apply Section 7 of the establishment Act if it is noticed that any legislator lives beyond his or her means.

    He added that it will be easy for the EFCC to move into such a situation without petitions since the income of legislators is no secret.”

    He described the establishment of the Commission in 2003 by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as one of the major steps towards the rebirth of the nation.

    Lamorde stated that prior to the establishment of the EFCC, Nigeria’s image in the international community had been dented owing to economic and financial crimes perpetrated by some individuals and organizations.

    He said Nigeria had been synonymous with money laundering, weak law enforcement and ‘419’ before the creation of EFCC.

    The EFCC chairman, who spoke through the Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Osita Nwajah, said the war against corruption and other economic crimes by the EFCC contributed to the de-listing of Nigeria from the FATF blacklist of Non-Cooperative Countries and Territories (NCCTs).

    He listed some of the commission’s achievements including “robust enforcement of economic and financial crimes, anti-money laundering law, routing of notorious ‘419’ and engendering renewed inflow of Foreign Direct Investments.”

  • ICPC to arraign NCSDC officials over N1.2b unspent fund

    ICPC to arraign NCSDC officials over N1.2b unspent fund

    THE Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it has concluded plans to arraign three officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over N1.2 billion unspent fund.

    Its Resident Media Consultant, Mr. Folu Olamiti, said this in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

    Olamiti said the officials would be arraigned today, before Justice Husseini Baba of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.

    He said a former Assistant Commandant General of NSCDC, Mohammed Umar, and two others – Amobi Chidozie and Ojuolape Oyemomi – would be arraigned before the court.

    Olamiti said the arraignment was in respect of an alleged conspiracy to offer gratification to some public officers in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF).

    According to him, the gratification was to induce the public officers to extend the time of remittance of the N1.2 billion unspent funds belonging to NSCDC in December 2004.

    He attributed the delay in the arraignment to the health challenge of Umar and the death of one of the accused persons, whose name was struck out from the charge sheet.

    “The accused were alleged to have conspired and used their public offices to offer gratification to some public officers of the office of the AGF in the sum of N1.5 million as an inducement.

    “The trio will also be facing trial for the transfer of the sum of N8.2 million meant for overhead vote to personnel vote, an offence contrary and punishable under Section 22 (5) of the corrupt practices and other related offences Act 2000,” he said.

     

  • Reps order ICPC to return ministry’s N924m

    Reps order ICPC to return ministry’s N924m

    The House of  Representatives has mandated the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) to return N924m to the Ministry of Environment.

    The money, which was meant for Great Green Wall project, was a subject of fraudulent transfer, which led to the anti-graft agency warehousing it in its special recovery account.

    House Committee on Environment Chairman Uche Ekwunife, while commending the agency for a good job, reminded it that the money was meant for a project for the benefit of Nigerians.

    Speaking at an investigative hearing organised by the Committee yesterday, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Nana Fatima Mede told the Committee how the money was fraudulently transferred from the Great Green Wall project account with the First City Monument Bank (FCMB).

    According to her, the bank alerted her of the illegal transfer on 28 November 2014 and she immediately informed the ICPC.

    The intervention of the ICPC, according to her led to the stoppage of the fraudulent transfer out of which N400m could not be transferred by the scammers.

    ICPC Chairman Ekpo Nta said his commission swung into action after being informed and that as at last week, the entire money had been recovered.

    He also disclosed that the major suspect behind the scam, Adeolu Adeyanju, the Chief Executive Officer of Detwinx Global Services Ltd, who fled from the country after being busted, was later apprehended when he sneaked into the country.

    He said  though investigation into the matter is still on-going because the agency was interested in how the operation was successfully carried out, Adeyanju and some bank workers have been charged to court.

    Ekwunife hailed the Permanent Secretary for her quick reaction and the ICPC for its effectiveness.

    She said everyone involved in the scam must be made to face the wrath of the law, “We want punishment for all those indicted, including bank workers, civil servants and everyone involved.

    “I think there is a canal behind crimes like this and it is our duty to discourage them. We cannot continue to condone this kind of attitude in our banks,” she added.

    While mandating the Chief Executive of FCMB to appear before it, the committee mandated the ICPC to return the recovered fund to the ministry within a week.

    She said the money was meant for a project and that Nigerians should not be denied the benefits of the project since it was prevented from being lost to fraudsters.

  • Tax evasion: ICPC, NASS probe construction firm, 114 others

    Senators and members of the House of Representatives under the auspices of Anti-Money Laundering and Cyber Security Coalition (AMLCSC) are working with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), to prosecute about 115 tax offenders.

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Pensions, Senator Aloysius Etok, said at a press briefing that the Senate in the course of investigations found that about “50 contracting firms working with Federal Ministry of Works operate with forged tax certificates.”

    He said companies that might come under the hammer of the National Assembly for tax evasion amounting to billions of naira, included Arab Contractors, a road construction firm, Septa Energy, Tower Aluminum, B. Stabilini and 112 others.

    Etok disclosed that the National Assembly was pushing for the prosecution of companies with high rate of casualised workers and fraudulent expatriate quota practices by foreign construction and some oil and gas companies in the country.

    According to the senator, if this trend of tax evasion continues agencies like Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), would fold up, as according to him, the agencies depended on taxes for survival.