The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Musa Adamu Aliyu, has detailed how systemic flaws in Nigeria’s public procurement process including projects built on private property and the conversion of public equipment to personal use are crippling national development.
Speaking at a Procurement Engagement Workshop in Abuja to mark the 2025 World Anti-Corruption Day, Aliyu called for urgent legislative action, including the creation of Special Crime Courts and stronger oversight, to salvage the system.
He was represented by the Secretary to the Commission, Clifford Okwudiri Oparaodu.
The Chairman identified routine malpractices like inflated contracts, phantom projects, and collusion between contractors and officials as primary drains on public resources.
He cited findings from the Commission’s Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative (CEPTI), which has uncovered projects deliberately sited on private land, duplicated contracts, and critical infrastructure abandoned due to political transitions.
While reaffirming a collaborative tracking initiative with the Federal Ministry of Works on road projects, ICPC boss shifted focus to the foundational reforms needed.
“Transparent procurement requires full disclosure, open competition, and rigorous performance reporting,” he stated, stressing that technology like e-procurement systems was futile without political will and institutional reform.
He specifically appealed to the National Assembly to ensure adequate funding for anti-corruption agencies and to prioritise the establishment of Special Crimes Courts to expedite justice.
The workshop garnered support from key stakeholders. Prince Moshood Akiolu, Chairman of the House Committee on Anti-Corruption, commended the ICPC’s efforts and charged procurement officers to ensure value for public money.
The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Adebowale Adedokun, described the collaboration with ICPC as “neighbourly and essential,” calling for continued legislative backing for anti-corruption bodies.
Adding a technical perspective, Professor Samson Duna, Director-General of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), connected procurement fraud to physical dangers, noting that substandard materials; a common result of corrupt contracts, account for 38 percent of building collapses in Nigeria.
The event, featuring technical presentations and attended by procurement directors from nationwide ministries and agencies, highlighted a unified push to tackle the structural vulnerabilities in Nigeria’s contract awarding and execution processes.
(Editor: Anoyoyo Ogiagboviogie)
