Tension as ICPC probes N1.68 billion assets linked to Lagos Commissioner

Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) is probing assets worth about N1. 68 billion allegedly linked to a Commissioner in Lagos State, Sunday Vanguard learnt last week.

The probe was reportedly launched after the ICPC received a petition detailing assets allegedly linked to the Commissioner, a woman, in a remote area of the state.

The petition, written by a group, Parrot Deed International Network, and dated March 2, 2020, was addressed to the ICPC Chairman. It is titled, ‘Petition against Commissioner for official corruption, unlawful enrichment and conversion of public fund for personal use’.

The woman, according to the petition, served as Commissioner in two different ministries between 2015 and 2019 and serves in one of the strategic ministries under the current administration. The petition said she bagged her first degree in 2006. “Properties acquired between 2015 till date are humongous and we reasonably suspect that they were acquired through corrupt practices”, it added. The petition claimed that the Commissioner was a Director in two companies used to acquire the assets until 2019 when she withdrew and her children took over as Directors.

The N1. 68 billion assets, as listed in the petition, include a hotel worth N900million, a shopping mall worth N450million, a pharmacy worth N150million and a fuel station estimated at N180million. Efforts to get the Commissioner’s own side of the story last week were unsuccessful as she did not pick phone calls. Messages sent to her phone were also not replied.

Meanwhile, ICPC spokesperson, Mrs R. Adunmi Okoduwa, confirmed that the agency received the petition and was investigating the allegations. “Yes, we have a petition on the matter but it is still under investigation”, Okoduwa said in response to Sunday Vanguard message. A source close to the ICPC said the Commissioner may have case to answer under the ‘Presidential Executive Order No 6 of 2018 on the Preservation of Suspicious Assets Connected With Corruption’ if the allegations in the petition turned out to be true. Vanguard