Constituency Project Fraud: HEDA Tasks ICPC on Comprehensive Review, Legal Action Against Suspects

The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre), a leading anti-corruption civil society organization, has charged the new leadership of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), under Dr. Musa Aliyu (SAN) to conduct a comprehensive review of the outcomes of the Commission’s investigation under his predecessor and take legal action against suspects implicated in the constituency project fraud spanning over a decade.

ICPC reports spanning 2003 to 2024 has reportedly revealed approximately N2 trillion allocated to Nigerian lawmakers for constituency projects has yielding minimal results in terms of completed projects or community impact. This pattern underscores a systemic failure to achieve the misplaced developmental objectives established, outside the ambits of the law and separation of power under former President Olusegun Obasanjo government, with the reports highlighting egregious instances of corruption and misappropriation of public funds.

In a statement issued by HEDA and signed by its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, the organization emphasizes that the failure to prosecute those implicated by the outcomes of the investigation undermines accountability and seeks to perpetuate and embolden a culture of impunity. Despite clear evidence of financial impropriety and misuse of public resources, there has been inadequate action to hold responsible parties accountable. According to the Suraju, “ICPC, both by its mandate and operations is a prosecutorial and law enforcement agency, not a recovery agency.”

“We therefore call for a comprehensive review and urgent action by the ICPC to ensure accountability and prosecution of all suspects named in these reports. The mismanagement of such a substantial amount of public funds is clearly contribution to the state of infrastructural decay, poverty, and insecurity across the country. Beyond all these, it is an affront to good governance and social justice, which could have significantly improved the lives of Nigerians.”

He further emphasized, “HEDA Resource Centre reaffirms its commitment to promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity in public service. The organization urges the ICPC and other relevant authorities to prioritize the prosecution of those responsible for misappropriating constituency project funds to deter future acts of corruption and restore public faith in governance processes. HEDA and other civil society organisations, considering the propensity of our legislators to invoke legislative power for harassing MDAs to avoid accountability, are available to provide all the needed political and social support to all anti-corruption agencies in achieving their mandates, including this particular case.