A Letter to The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)

RULAAC expresses concern over controversies involving the manipulation of NPTF finances, violations of the NPTF Act and public procurement procedures, and the purchase of subpar equipments for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). 

According to THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER;

Okechukwu Nwanguma, Executive Director of RULAAC in a letter sent to the ICPC Chairman’s office, has requested that the information should be made available by the commission within seven (7) days of receipt in accordance with the provision of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2011.

 “Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) is a national, independent and registered non-profit human rights advocacy organisation established in 2018 and committed to promoting law enforcement accountability, transparent and responsible policing and the observance of the rule of law in law enforcement actions.  

“RULAAC brings this request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2011 and, as required under the law, would expect that you will make the requested information available within seven (7) days of receiving this request. May we also put you on notice that we will head to court to compel you, if you fail to provide the requested information within the stipulated time frame under the FOIA.   

“The Vanguard Newspaper of September 20, 2021, captioned its report “N11bn police equipment contract fraud: How infighting within NPTF management led to ICPC’s petition, investigation”. 

“The Thisday Newspaper captioned its own report, dated September 13th, 2021 as “ICPC Probes Police Trust Fund’s Alleged N11b Equipment Donation to Nigeria Police”, among several other reports in both print and electronic media. 

“According to the Vanguard report, “sharing formula of money acquired from the contract led to the petition” which the ICPC has been investigating. It revealed that while some management staff were alleged to have been given between N3 million and N5 million as their share of the “proceeds” that came out from the alleged fraud, some were said to have received between N7 million and N8 million which prompted underground agitations. 

“According to the Vanguard Newspaper report, the ICPC letter inviting the management staff, read: ‘The invited staff are to come with the following documents as applicable to their office and schedule as well as original copies for sighting: two copies of all contract agreement for contract awarded from the take-off grant and capital; copies of staff nominal role; comprehensive list of staff on transfer, posting and secondment; vote for take-off grant; breakdown of all spending and approvals; printout of ledger vote and spending, all no-objection certificates from Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), and evidence of BPP clarification on contract award, financial limits and thresholds, procurement methods and thresholds of application and expenditure as related to NPTF.’ 

“Section 12 (1) of the NPTF Act states that the Board of Trustee has powers to: ‘…award contracts of any kind or description for any amount, whether in local or foreign currency in conformity with the due process requirements as provided under any law, rule, guideline or regulation’.  

“The Chairman of the PTF Board of Trustees, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abba Suleiman was reported to have testified before the ICPC investigators as a witness, during which he made startling revelations of fraud, abuse of due process and mismanagement of the PTF funds by the management. The chairman was also quoted to have denied knowledge of the procurement process undertaken by the management.  

“The chairman also disclosed that the management of the NPTF had been frustrating him from resuming work with his staff at the office provided by the Nigeria Police Force. 

“The PTF Management was also accused of procuring substandard equipment for the Nigeria Police and that a former Deputy Governor who is a serving Senator eyeing 2023, and a Minister were fingered in the substandard equipment purchase. 

“Among the substandard equipment were, allegedly, bulletproof vests, helmets and operational vehicles. It was revealed that the bulletproof vests that ought to possess double-sided shields were found to only possess shields on one side while the helmets were too small and the Toyota Buffalo vehicles procured were largely substandard. 

“President Muhammadu Buhari had on January 13th, 2022 been allegedly misled into commissioning the alleged substandard police equipment comprising of 200 Buffalo Toyota operational vehicles and other equipment purchased by the PTF for the NPF through alleged contract fraud while the investigation by the ICPC was still ongoing.   

“This act, considered both prejudicial and subversive of the federal government’s touted fight against corruption, prompted a coalition of over 200 civil society organisations and activists across Nigeria under the umbrella of CSO-PTF Support and Oversight Group, in demonstration of their commitment to promoting transparency and accountability in the implementation of the NPTF Act, condemned the President’s decision to commission the substandard equipment while investigation was still ongoing. The CSO-PTF Support and Oversight Group also called on the ICPC to speed up and conclude its investigation and make its findings public. 

“It is close to years after the scandal broke and nearly one year after the ICPC started its investigation of the alleged crimes, yet the public is yet to know where the anti-corruption agency is with regards to its investigation. Sadly, this is despite the repeated calls from many quarters for diligence and periodic update regarding the progress of the investigation even after the management and Board members of the PTF appeared before ICPC and made statements or gave evidence before the investigating team.  

“The purpose of establishing the PTF under the law was to provide an additional window for police funding with a view to addressing perennial underfunding of the lead security agency in the country. Specifically, the PTF was designed to provide the NPF with modern, state-of-the-art operational equipment, training and welfare and thereby promote professionalism, boost morale and enhance police effectiveness in discharging their constitutional mandates of providing safety and security.  

“Diversion or mismanagement of the PTF fund should therefore be treated with the seriousness it deserves as an act of sabotage that undermines national security.  

“It was not our expectation that the PTF will be run down the same way its precursor, the Police Equipment Fund set up by President (Olusegun) Obasanjo and headed by Kenny Martins was run down and the enormous funds accumulated through the fund frittered away. 

“RULAAC, for the umpteenth time, is calling on the ICPC to make the report of its investigation public in the spirit of transparency and accountability.”