As the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) intensifies the tracking of constituency projects across the country, The Explainer can authoritatively report that a good number of contractors who were alleged to have executed shoddy jobs, have begun to hastily return to site. The development follows stern warnings from officials of the anti-corruption agencies, who during the week threatened to prosecute erring contractors, if they do not speedily return to site to properly execute the jobs given to them in line with the specifications in their contracts.
In Kano State for instance, the ICPC has expressed anger at some contractors, who believing no one would check what they have done, built substandard projects, which were far from the standard they had signed off to work on in their respective contract documents. Handing down a stern warning to the contractors, a Chief Assistant Superintendent of the ICPC, Mr. Bukar Galadinma was quoted to have tongue-lashed the contractors for their infractions, just as he declared that the anti-corruption agency would not condone all such acts of corruption in the execution of public projects, which in turn affect the welfare and well-being of Nigerians, especially those in the rural areas.
Subsequently, the efforts of the ICPC in holding contractors handing public works projects accountable have been resoundingly praised by a frontline Civil Society Organisation (CSO), the Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED). In a statement on the issues, which have emerged from the ongoing tracking of constituency projects, CHRICED lauded the Kano State Office of the ICPC over its marching orders to contractors indicted for shoddily implementing constituency projects. The group noted that it was a positive development that the
contractors had been ordered to return to site or face the full wrath of the law. The frontline CSO, which is a member of the ICPC’s National Anti-Corruption Coalition (NACC), noted that it was one of the citizens’ groups, nominated to joined the ICPC to track the constituency projects.
The statement signed by the group’s helmsman, Comrade Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi said: “We commend the ICPC for its dedication and commitment to tracking constituency projects across the country, just as we urge the Commission to ensure contractors executing substandard constituency projects, which are not in line with contract specifications, are held to account and brought to book.
“As a member of the Kano Team for ICPC’s on-going phase three of the constituency project tracking exercise, CHRICED observations and findings during the constituency project tracking revealed that a good number of the projects implemented by contractors were poorly executed, just as the contract sums are bloated. CHRICED similarly observed in the course of the tracking that some blocks of classrooms constructed as recently as in 2020 are already in a state of disrepair.”
In a similar vein, the group pointed out that it observed several cases, where contractors short-changed the public by doing less than what had been stipulated in the contractual agreements. It said: “We observed an instance where contracts were awarded for the construction of classrooms and supply of furniture, but the contractors only built the classroom blocks without supplying the furniture. This example, as well as similar underhand practices, constitute serious breaches of the specifications of the various contract terms. There was also an instance where a contractor signed up to install 35 units of solar-powered street lights in communities in Gezawa/Gabasawa Federal Constituency of Kano State. The tracking team was however only able to trace 20 street lights.”
The group lamented that in all of the instances of corruption and abuse of due process observed, the rights of Nigerians to have quality infrastructure and basic services had been violated due to the effects of corruption and bad governance. The group said: “It is equally pertinent to note that these acts of corruption exert serious pressures and costs, especially on marginalized, poor and vulnerable citizens, including youth, women and people with disabilities. While ICPC’s efforts at tracking these projects are commendable, we believe that the people at the grassroots, who are the worst affected by corruption, must make it a duty to continue to beam the searchlight on constituency projects in their areas to ensure proper execution and value for money,” it admonished.
