Indigenes and stakeholders of Borno State have denied knowledge or impact of N3.07 Billion said to have been spent by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) to build peace between 2017 and 2020 in the Northeast and Northwest of the country.
Investigations by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), revealed a breach of procurement laws by the Institute in their spending of N3.07 billion in the two geopolitical zones.
IPCR is a Federal Government’s agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs that is saddled with the responsibility of preventing, mitigating and resolving conflicts in the country.
Reacting to the humongous amount of money allegedly spent by the Institute to restore peace in the Northeast, a member of the Borno-Yobe Peoples Forum, Alhaji Abba Kaka said the people of Borno are not aware of the presence of IPCR or any of its interventions.
Kaka, who stated this during an anti-corruption program, PUBLIC CONSCIENCE on RADIO, produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, on Wednesday in Abuja, expressed shock over the amount of money allegedly spent by the institute.
He said that even the immediate past Chairman of Governing Council of the Institute, Senator Muhammed Abba-Aji was surprised upon hearing the alleged sums of money the institute claimed to have spent in the region. Kaka therefore called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to as a matter of national importance swiftly probe the expenditures by the institute in the Northeast in particular.
He added that Senator Aji, who was disturbed by development, had already reached out to the current Director-General of the IPCR to brief the Northeast Governors’ Forum on the alleged expenditure.
His words: “As a stakeholder from Borno State, I am just hearing that N3.07 billion was spent on peace building in the Northeast for the first time. I am not aware of their presence neither is the Borno-Yobe People Forum which I belong to.
“Last night, I called the former Chairman Governing Council of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution to read the story, he called me back that and said he is not even aware himself, he has even asked the current Director-General of the institute to come and brief the Northeast Governor’s forum. He was the chairman from early 2018 to December 2020. They didn’t have a kobo as far as he is aware, so he was surprised and was absolutely dumbfounded.”
Reacting to breach of procurement laws in the contracts awarded by the institute, Kaka lamented that the prevalence of corruption in the public service through contracts award became possible due to the connivance of public servants and companies involved.
While urging the anti-graft agencies to investigate the monies IPCR spent on peace building in the Northeast, he commended ICIR and PRIMORG for exposing such reports to the general public and the government thus, called on Non-Governmental Organizations and citizens not to relent in demanding accountability.
He further said; “We are calling on the EFCC and ICPC to kindly investigate this matter and find out what really happened to the money. This is just one agency of the government, there are several such things happening”.
Earlier, ICIR reporter, Olugbenga Adanikin said the rationale behind the investigation was to evaluate the monies spent on the Northeast and Northwest Nigeria given the fact that killings, kidnappings and other forms of insecurity persist in the region despite over N3 billion spent in the two geo-political zones.
According to Adanikin, ICIR findings revealed that killings in the Northeast and Northwest, where most of the funds were allegedly spent, rose from 2,773 deaths in 2017 to 6,401 in 2020, which raised questions about the budget performance of the institute.
He stressed that some of the contractors that did the job for the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution were not even registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission, adding that, “the essence of our investigation is to ensure government agencies become meticulous with the award of contracts”.
Adanikin said that efforts by ICIR to reach the institute before publishing the report of the investigation proved abortive.
Likewise, PRIMORG had invited the institute to be part of the radio programme but they neither responded to the invitation nor turned up.
