550 constituency projects, 18 states… ICPC to commence tracking exercise on Monday

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it is set to commence the tracking of 550 constituency projects across the country.

According to a statement issued on Friday, Azuka Ogugua, ICPC spokesperson, said the tracking exercise is phase four of the commission’s constituency and executive projects’ tracking operation.

Ogugua said the operation will start on May 9 and will focus on federal government-funded executive projects in 18 states — Benue, Nasarawa, Plateau, Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Edo, Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti and the federal capital territory (FCT).

“The Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTI) is an initiative of the ICPC that commenced in 2019 with the aim of promoting social accountability and transparency in the conception, execution and management of public-funded projects as well as ensuring value-for-money in the execution of the projects,” the statement reads.

“The first phase of the exercise in 2019 had a total of 424 projects tracked across 12 states, while the second and third phases conducted in 2020 and 2021 featured 722 projects in 16 states; and 1,098 projects in 16 other states and the FCT respectively.

“The focal sectors of the Phase 4 exercise remain Education, Health, Water Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development as well as Power sectors among others.

“The mandate of the tracking exercise is to investigate fraudulent procurement practices in the award of contracts for the projects, ensure projects are executed to the specified standard and that value-for-money is obtained, monitor the implementation of the projects from inception to completion in collaboration with critical stakeholders, and make recoveries on projects/contracts confirmed to have been inflated or in which contractors under-performed or did not perform at all.”

The ICPC spokesperson added that the tracking operation will compel the “return of runaway contractors to sites to complete hitherto abandoned projects, tracking contracting companies for all statutory regulatory compliance, among others as well as prosecuting persons or institutions found culpable in undermining the execution of government-funded projects”.