- How Commission forced 500 contractors back to site over N40bn abandoned constituency projects
- Amendment passed without public hearing – Insiders
BY BRIGHT JACOB
A ticking time bomb seems to have been set for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission following the suspicious amendment of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 by the Senate.
The Senate had last Tuesday in the “Committee of the Whole” passed the report of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, which reviewed 70 clauses seeking to amend the principal act of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
According to analysts, the report, which was presented by the Senate Committee Chairman, Senator Abdu Kwari, whittled down the powers of the ICPC Chairman by rendering the Commission ineffective and creating conflict and interference by members now turned ‘Commissioners’ as a result of the amendment in the administration and operations activities of the anti-graft agency.
A member of the committee confirmed that the new amendments were passed by the Senate without holding a public hearing.
“The Senate Committee only requested comments of a few selected civil society organisations on some clauses which were not contentious like the whittling down of the powers of the ICPC Chairman.
“One of the main contentions of the amendment by the Senate was Section 4(2) of the Principal Act, which states that the Chairman and any four members of the board of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for meetings,” he said.
The Senate, however, in its wisdom, amended the existing subsection (2) for a new subsection (2).
The new subsection (2) states that the quorum for meetings shall be ‘any five members’ and the five members in attendance shall appoint a Chairman to preside over the board meetings.
“By implication, the Senate’s ‘any five members’ of the board can meet and take far reaching decisions for the Commission, including removing a sitting Chairman appointed by the President for the agency and even making a decision on whether an investigation or operation should commence, continue or terminated with or without the Chairman’s input.
“In furtherance of its hidden agenda at whittling down the ICPC Chairman’s powers and rendering the Chairman a lame-duck, the upper chamber also amended Section 7 of the Principal Act on the issuance of administrative orders by the Chairman of the Commission called ‘Standing Orders’.
“Section 7 (1) of the Principal Act states, ‘The Chairman may issue administrative orders to be called ‘standing orders’, which shall conform with the provisions of the general control, training, duties and responsibilities of officers of the commission and for such other matters as may be necessary or expedient for the good administration of the Commission and to ensure the efficient and effective functioning of the Commission,” the Senator revealed.
He said the Senate amended Section 7(1) of the Principal Act by substituting the word ‘Chairman’ for the word ‘Commission’.
“In furtherance of its hidden agenda at whittling down the ICPC Chairman’s powers and rendering the Chairman a lame-duck, the upper chamber also amended Section 7 of the Principal Act on the issuance of administrative orders by the Chairman of the Commission called ‘Standing Orders”
According to the Amended Bill of the Senate, the senators also passed the amendments of Sections 3(5), 3(6), 3(7), 3(8), 3(9) and 3(10) of the Principal Act by substituting the word ‘members of the board’ with the word ‘commissioners’.
“This effectively turns members of the Commission appointed by the President for policy making into operatives with latitude to interfere with operational matters,” he lamented.
According to the new amendment, a new subsection 3(11) was created by the Senate, recognising offices for the Commissioners of the Commission.
The new subsection 3(11) states as follows, “The Commissioners of the Commission shall have the following offices:
i. Commissioner (Investigative Matters),
ii. Commissioner (Legal Matters),
iii Commissioner (Prevention, Sys tems Review and Financial Intel ligence),
iv Commissioner (Asset Recovery and Management),
v Commissioner (Anti-Corruption Education and Mobilization),
vi Commissioner, (Forensics and Emerging Technologies),
vi Zonal Commissioner, North East
viii Zonal Commissioner, North Central
ix Zonal Commissioner, North West
x. Zonal Commissioner, South East
xi. Zonal Commissioner, South South
xii. Zonal Commissioner, South West
“Provided always that in assigning responsibilities to the Commissioners, the President shall have regard to their geo-political zones and respective disciplines.”
The amendment of Section 3 of the Principal Act and the new subsection 3(11), according to some experts who spoke to The Point, whittles down the powers of the Chairman of the Commission unlike other law enforcement agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Code of Conduct Bureau, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and Nigeria Customs Service, among others.
One of the experts with domestic and international experience on anti-corruption laws, who spoke to our correspondent, noted that the appointees of the President could not perform dual roles of members of the board and at the same time officers of the commission in investigation and prosecution of cases.
The expert, who said he preferred anonymity for personal reasons, noted, “It should be categorically stated that the powers of law enforcement agencies cannot be subject to decisions of Committees and political considerations. Secondly, how do you reconcile the role of a member of the board with that of a staff or officer of the Commission? That is conflict in itself and this shouldn’t be found in a Commission trying to fight the ills of the society.
“It is absurd to say the board members should engage in the functions of staff of the commission. If such a board member is found wanting or has a case to answer, how do you reconcile that?”
He added that the situation at the ICPC reminded one of the kind of arrangement that gradually made a constitutional institution like the Public Complaint Commission ineffective till today.
A legal practitioner, Yemi Sulaiman, urged members of the House of Representatives not to support the Senate in passing the amendment bill.
He stressed, “The Amendment Bill should be rejected by the members of the House of Representatives. The bill spells doom for the new administration’s resolve to tackle corruption and financial crimes.
“It is not in the tradition of law enforcement agencies for five members to form a quorum and hold meetings without the chairman appointed by the President, perhaps this is permissible in administrative bodies, but not in law enforcement agencies and not even in regulatory authorities. What if the five members conspire to impeach the Chairman?”
The legislators also reduced the punishment of seven years for offering and accepting gratifications in Sections 8, 9 and 10 of the Principal Act.
Sulaiman fumed that the amendments posed a serious threat to the fight against corruption in the country, which the Commission had doggedly fought for over two decades.
Some of those who spoke in separate interviews with The Point alleged that the arrow heads of the amendment of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 were senators with dubious and duplicated constituency projects being investigated by the ICPC.
It was gathered that previous attempts had been made by the legislators to arm-twist and muzzle the Commission for its uncompromising attitude in the fight against corruption by stopping the release of funds to alleged padded projects in the budget and the questionable constituency projects.
Constituency projects are meant to extend the dividends of democratic governance to the various constituencies of the federal legislators with a view to spurring grassroots development.
The legislators are the sponsors of constituency projects in Nigeria.
Under the constituency and executive projects tracking initiative which is in its fifth stage, it was gathered that the ICPC has tracked over 3,000 projects, valued at about N400 billion.
The Commission, it was further learnt, had forced over 500 contractors to return to project sites to complete abandoned projects, valued at over N45 billion. Some of these projects were constituency projects of the senators.
