ICPC recovers $700m looted funds, N7.3bn from abandoned projects
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it has recovered $700 million in stolen funds hidden in foreign accounts, alongside N7.3 billion traced to abandoned projects in local government areas across Nigeria’s Northwest and Northeast.
ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), disclosed this on Thursday during a one-day media dialogue with journalists in Kano. He said additional recoveries included 14 buildings, 25 plots of land, and three farmlands seized from corrupt individuals.
Dr. Aliyu stressed the importance of media partnership in sustaining anti-corruption momentum in the northern regions, noting that citizens’ resilience against bribery and graft was growing.
According to him, a joint UNODC–NBS survey revealed that the Northwest recorded the highest bribe refusal rate in Nigeria at 76%, while the Northeast stood at 60%. Reports of bribery in the two regions also rose from 4.7% in 2019 to 13.4% in 2023, with formal action on reported cases tripling within the same period.
“These are not just statistics, they tell real stories of Nigerians refusing to be exploited,” Aliyu said, urging community and religious leaders to help entrench a culture of integrity.
He further pledged stronger deployment of technology and operatives across the 36 states to consolidate the Commission’s gains in tackling graft.
