As part of its ongoing efforts to combat corruption in Nigeria, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) announced that it recovered N29.7 billion in cash and $966,900.83 in foreign currency within the past year.
Musa Aliyu, the ICPC Chairman, made this disclosure on Tuesday during a press briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, marking his first year in office.
He further revealed that the recovered funds have been deposited into the commission’s account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He said, “The commission continues to ensure accountability in government funds and deliver sustainable projects for the benefit of Nigerians. There are a lot of achievements we have made over the past year. Some of these include our strategic action plan, which provides a sense of direction aligned with the National Anti-Corruption Strategic Plan 2022–2026.”
Aliyu added, “We recovered N29.7bn in cash. Additionally, we stopped the diversion of N10bn in COVID-19 vaccine funds, which have been remitted. We also recovered assets and secured about N2.5bn in bank recoveries.”
The chairman further revealed that the ICPC prevented the diversion of public funds worth N5.882 billion.
“The commission stopped the diversion of public funds amounting to N5.882 billion. The report of the EICS exercise, conducted earlier this year, is ready and will be released to the media and the public,” Aliyu said.
The ICPC also recovered and remitted N10.986 billion in Value-Added Tax (VAT) to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Aliyu revealed that over the past year, the commission processed a total of 851 petitions. Of these, 342 were assigned for investigation, 95 were fully investigated, 72 cases were taken to court, and 16 convictions were successfully secured.