ICPC Investigates TETFund Research Grants To Staff Of Six Institutions In Anambra
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it is currently investigating six higher institutions in Anambra on the utilisation of TETFund academic research grants given to some of their staff members.
Mr Emmanuel Dio, the Ag. Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner in Anambra disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Awka at the weekend.
Dio said the investigation was aimed at determining whether the research grants were being used for the purpose they were meant for and also whether the nation was benefitting from such investment.
The Acting Commissioner who said the institutions included three Federal and three State institutions warned invited persons against refusal to respond to the Commission.
He condemned the practice of running to the court to file for fundamental rights and obtaining restraining orders instead of going to the Commission to respond to allegations against them.
Dio, who appreciated the court for turning down such frivolous allegations, said refusal to honour ICPC invitation was an offense with consequences that could be worse than that of the alleged offense.
“A worrisome trend that we have observed is that people who we invite to respond to the petitions either ignore or run to court to obtain a restraining order, even though the courts always reject these applications.
“Such people are only making the period of investigation longer because most of these cases are not time bound, they will always come back in the end but the danger for these people is that we may be compelled to invoke relevant sections of the law and enforce arrest.
“We encourage anybody who gets our invitation to honour it, they should come with their lawyers or any person of their choice, all ICPC cases are bailable offences,” he said.
Dio said as part of curbing corruption tendencies in the public sector, ICPC had set up Anti-Corruption units in about nine organisations including five of them being fully functional.
He urged members of the public to feel free to lodge complaints against corrupt practices and actions that amounted to abuse of office authority while assuring that the anonymity of complainants was guaranteed.
“We also have the National Youth Service Corps Community Development Service group that is also helping with the awareness campaign against corruption and abuse of authority,” he said.
