Acting Chairman of ICPC, Mr. Ekpo Nta, who made this known when he met with all six area council chairmen in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, at an interactive session in Abuja, said the commission would focus on illegal deduction by state governments under the guise of joint allocation.
According to him, the commission will also hold all local governments accountable for the judicious disbursement of all statutory and internally-generated revenue, IGR, in their areas of jurisdiction.
Nta advised area councils to be wary of volunteer groups or agents who go about soliciting money under the guise of representing ICPC or EFCC.
He said: “Do not succumb to blackmail by these so-called agents. Report them to the relevant agencies.”
He told them that they were free at anytime to invite ICPC System Review Specialists to assist them in ensuring good administrative, financial and project management that would immune them from infractions of the ICPC Act.
Nta said the commission wanted to change the perception that anti-corruption agencies took delight in hounding and prosecuting local government chairmen.
He also decried growing tendency of some misguided councillors and detractors sending false petitions to ICPC about local government chairmen who refused to play ball.
He lauded the FCT minister for encouraging financial independence of area councils as attested to by the area councils’ chairmen.
Nta called on state governments to learn from the FCT experience as ICPC would begin to beam searchlight on illegal deductions in the name of joint contributions.
In his reply, the FCT-ALGON Chairman, Danladi Zhin, on behalf of other chairmen, thanked the ICPC chairman for the agency’s pro-active approach in helping area councils to develop financial processes to reduce corruption.
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