By Sabiu Abdullahi
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has commenced the monitoring of 72 constituency projects valued at N16.3 billion across the three senatorial districts of Kogi State.
Assistant Commissioner of the commission, Wale David, made this known on Saturday in Lokoja.
He explained that the exercise is meant to ensure that the projects followed due process and are delivering real benefits to the public.
David added that the commission will probe projects that have been abandoned as well as those suspected to have been poorly executed. He said contractors linked to substandard work will be directed to return to site and fix the identified issues.
He also stated that intervention programmes will be reviewed to confirm the actual beneficiaries and assess how well they were implemented.
According to him, the exercise started in Lokoja with the inspection of the N6.2 billion Federal Secretariat Complex project and the N6.4 billion Inland River Port project.
He further disclosed that the monitoring will cover all 21 local government areas of Kogi State.
The commission noted that the initiative is part of efforts to improve transparency and accountability in public procurement. It added that the move is also intended to ensure that residents of the state benefit from projects funded by the Federal Government.
