Abuja, Nigeria
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) announced that it recovered N20 billion paid to ghost workers as pensions in 2024.
TheCable reports that Musa Aliyu, the commission’s chairman, made this statement during a media briefing with editors in Abuja on Wednesday.
Aliyu emphasized that the commission’s proactive approach has played a key role in curbing corruption in the country.
“In 2024, we recovered over N20 billion ghost workers pensions, whereby we were able to track and recover this amount of money, and also we identified people inserting ghost workers into the system,” he said.
“We even discovered that somebody put his wife, his son, and his in-laws on the payroll.
“So, these are some of the challenges that we are trying to see that we tackle and don’t allow them to go on.”
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The ICPC chairman also revealed that the commission thwarted an attempt to steal N50 billion from a specific ministry.
“In 2023, there is a particular ministry where we restrained over N50 billion from being taken away because of our proactiveness,” he said.
According to Aliyu, he “had sleepless nights” battling corruption during his time as the attorney-general in Jigawa state between 2019 and 2023.
“I know how those who feel they can do and undo and use all avenues to ensure that they spread lies and confuse people in order to discredit what we were doing then, but through God’s grace, we reached our destination,” he said.
He revealed that the commission avoids media trials because a suspect is innocent until proven guilty.
“We share verified information through reports, newsletters, press releases, our website, and social media. However, we ensure that informants and the integrity of investigations remain protected,” he said.
“We want our work to be judged by the performance standards in our strategic action plan (2024-2028).
“I urge the Nigerian media to work with us in raising public awareness and promoting ICPC’s programs. Our nation’s progress depends on it.
“All of us should join hands to tackle corruption in this country. Fighting corruption is not easy because when you fight corruption, corruption fights back.
“Those involved in corruption are united in their evil. They try to lie against us in order to discredit what we are doing.
“But as a nation, all well-meaning members of the public must join hands to tackle corruption.
“We don’t have an option. If we don’t tackle corruption, our children will have no future. If we don’t fight corruption, those involved will wreck the economy, and we will all suffer for it.
“We are partnering with credible civil society organisations to implement the corruption prevention programme for local governments to ensure proactive disclosure of information relevant to finances, procurement, and control of corruption.”
He stated that assets recovered from corrupt public officials are strictly governed by the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The ICPC chairman further mentioned that he established a panel consisting of civil society organizations (CSOs), media representatives, and government procurement experts to oversee a transparent public auction of the assets.
Aliyu also emphasized the need to revise Nigeria’s laws to make corruption less appealing, highlighting that in some countries, individuals convicted of corruption must repay the full amount with interest and are prohibited from holding public office for up to 10 years.
