The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Wednesday advised community members in Kaduna State to report poorly executed projects to it for investigation.
Mr Godwin Basheru, Assistant Superintendent, ICPC Kaduna Office, gave the advice in Kaduna at a town hall meeting organised by an NGO, Connected Development (CODE).
The meeting focused on the status of constituency projects valued at N496 million being executed in Kaduna Central Senatorial District.
Basheru explained that ICPC had a mandate of ensuring value for money on any project implemented with public funds.
“If you notice any constituency projects that are shoddily executed, or the quality of the project did not match the budgeted amount, report to us and we will investigate.
“Our team will visit the sites with experts to assess and ascertain the status of the project. If the project delivered is below the budgeted amount, the contractor will be dragged back to site.
“If the money is diverted, ICPC will recover the money and the contractor will be forced back to site to complete the project according to specifications,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some participants at the meeting had complained that most of the constituency projects were poorly executed, while others were delivered far below the project amount.
Mr Abubakar Kamaludeen, a member of Community Monitoring Team (CMT), Igabi Local Government Area, claimed that some constituency projects in schools were delivered below the amount budgeted for.
Ms Asma’u Sagir, CMT, Unguwan Rimi, Kaduna North Local Government (LG), equally claimed that over N291 million was budgeted for the printing and distribution of books in schools, as constituency projects in Kaduna North LG.
According to her, the quantity of the books printed and supplied to schools could not be ascertained.
Earlier, Mr Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive Officer of CODE, called on the electorate and relevant stakeholders to participate in the execution of the constituency projects in the Senatorial District.
Lawal, who was represented by Mrs Lucy Abagi, CODE’s Senior Programme Manager, said that the projects were sited in Kaduna North, Kaduna South and Igabi Local Government Areas.
He listed some of the constituency projects to include the construction and renovation of classrooms, supply of furniture, printing and supply of books and water supply.
He explained that the town hall meeting was organised to provide a platform for citizens and their elected representatives to dialogue and find common grounds in the planning and execution of constituency projects.
He called on residents of the state to take advantage of the Open Government Partnership that the government had committed to, in ensuring transparency and accountability.
The Project Manager, Mr Kingsley Agu, explained that the meeting was organised under the Deepening Citizens’ Interest in Government Spending and Addressing Accompanying Corrupt Practices project, and supported by MacArthur Foundation. (NAN)
