The Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it has uncovered a warehouse with empowerment items meant to be shared two years ago to the youth and women in Oyi/Anayamelum Federal Constituency in Anambra State.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the ICPC made the discovery during the ongoing Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Exercise in the state.
The agency said it has it on good authority that the items were stored in a warehouse allegedly belonging to the lawmaker.
The items, which were bought in 2019 and 2020, included grinding machines, sewing machines, driers, clippers, among others.
The ICPC officials, who visited the constituency for checks with the listed beneficiaries, disclosed that they had not received the items and all efforts to access the warehouse were frustrated by the lawmaker’s agents.
The officials, who pleaded anonymity, said they were denied access to the warehouse after three attempts due to the reluctance on the part of the lawmaker`s team to take them to the facility.
“We have the list of the intended beneficiaries but those we called said they did not receive the items,” the officials said.
The ICPC team also said nobody was around to show them the evidence of the rural electrification project awarded through the Projects Development Agency. In Ogbaru Federal Constituency, the anti-graft agents said they were able to verify that functional solar-powered streetlights had been installed in Okpoko and Umunankwo.
In Orumba North and South, the ICPC officials also verified the donation of an 18-seater bus to a community in Akpu as approved for the lawmaker in 2019.
In the Anambra North Senatorial Zone, the ICPC officials verified and interacted with some market women who got training and start-up capital of N80,000 each.
The women attested that the money helped them to expand their various businesses which yielded income for their families.
Still, in Anambra North, the ICPC officials confirmed that some youth were trained on ICT and got N20,000 each as transport fare.
Only one of the beneficiaries said he got a computer set and a printer, while none of the 22 trainees was paid the N120,000 that was approved in the bill of quantity
Tricycles were said to have been distributed to youth but the ICPC officials said no single beneficiary could be produced as evidence that the project was executed. NAN reported that the ICPC was currently on the third phase of the tracking exercise, which would cover 18 states.
The ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, said in a statement that a total of 1,251 projects, comprising 1,024 constituencies and 227 executive projects executed under the 2019 and 2020 appropriations, had been listed for tracking.