The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Anambra State, has commenced Phase 8b of its Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Exercise, targeting 19 projects valued at more than N1 billion across the state.
The Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Group (CEPTG) Team Lead in Anambra, Nzebunachi Chukwuma, disclosed this on Thursday while speaking with journalists during the exercise.
Chukwuma said the exercise began on Tuesday, August 18, and would cover projects across the state’s three senatorial districts and federal constituencies.
He explained that the tracking initiative, which commenced in 2019, was designed to strengthen transparency and accountability in the implementation of government projects and ensure that public funds deliver value to citizens.
According to him, the exercise monitors constituency projects sponsored by lawmakers and executive projects implemented by government agencies, while also reducing secrecy and other avenues for corruption.
“This is an initiative of the Commission to monitor the execution of constituency projects by lawmakers and government agencies across the states.
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“It is also to ensure that value for money expended is realised, reduce secrecy, diversion of funds and other forms of corruption in the execution of projects to the barest minimum, as well as ensure that end users benefit from the services,” he said.
The 19 projects selected for tracking in Anambra include water schemes, empowerment programmes, road construction and school projects.
Chukwuma said the exercise would run for seven days and was being conducted simultaneously in 21 states across the country.
He added that the projects were randomly selected by a steering committee to ensure fairness and avoid perceptions that the Commission was deliberately targeting specific lawmakers, contractors or government agencies.
He said the committee comprises officials from the Federal Budget Office, the Accountant-General of the Federation and ICPC, in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, which assesses the projects to determine whether the funds spent correspond with the work executed.
Chukwuma said the tracking exercise had recorded significant results in Anambra over the years, including the recovery of value from unexecuted projects and the identification of funds that could be re-appropriated to other projects.
He added that some lawmakers and contractors had been directed to return to project sites to complete abandoned or unfinished projects, while individuals found culpable of infractions had been prosecuted.
He said the exercise remained part of ICPC’s preventive and enforcement strategies to curb corruption and ensure that public funds translate into tangible benefits for citizens.
