The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has debunked statements on the media, credited to the Chairman of the Commission, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, implying that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq diverted monies meant for Home-grown School Feeding Program.
In a statement on its official website, the ICPC said part of the Chairman’s address made on Monday, 28th September 2020 at its 2nd National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector, was erroneously implied.
The ICPC Boss had in the address said, “we (ICPC) discovered payments to some federal colleges (secondary schools) for school feeding in the sum of N2.67b during the lockdown when the children were not in school, and some of the money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings’’.Â
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In the clarification statement, the Commission said the ‘school feeding’ referred to by the Chairman of ICPC was the feeding of boarding students in Federal Government Colleges, who were all at home during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“The Commission wishes to clarify that the school feeding referred to by the Chairman of ICPC is not the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme being managed by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
“The Commission had discovered through its review of publications on the Open Treasury Portal that statutory monthly allocations meant for the feeding of secondary school students of some Federal Government Colleges were diverted into personal accounts.
“This statement is issued for the purpose of clarifying the statement of the Hon. Chairman. Consequently, the general public is hereby advised to disregard the said reports suggesting a reference to the school feeding programme going on in primary schools,” the ICPC said.
