The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, says it has recovered more than N5.3bn following a review of local government accounts in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The commission plans to introduce websites for all 774 local government councils in Nigeria to enable residents to access financial records, monitor public spending and track council activities as part of efforts to strengthen transparency and accountability at the grassroots.
ICPC Chairman, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, led the flag-off of the ICPC-National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Local Government Websites Pilot in Lafia, Nasarawa State, with plans to extend the initiative to all 774 local government areas across the country.
Aliyu said the recovery of the funds exposed the scale of financial irregularities at the grassroots and underscored the need for closer monitoring of public resources.
He noted that the Supreme Court judgment of July 2024, which affirmed local government financial autonomy and directed the direct payment of statutory allocations to councils, had increased the need for accountability in the management of public funds.
“Autonomy brings responsibility. Funds that now flow directly to the councils must be spent openly and for the benefit of the people,” he said.
The ICPC chairman explained that the websites would operate on a standardised template developed under the commission’s Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Governments.
He said the platforms would require councils to publish information on their budgets, statutory allocations, internally generated revenue, expenditure, audit reports and debts.
Other information to be made available would include public procurement records, human resources, citizen engagement platforms, whistleblowing channels and anti-corruption measures.
According to Aliyu, the websites would enable residents to monitor public spending, while journalists and oversight institutions could access information needed to identify possible financial abuses.
He urged local government chairmen to appoint dedicated officers to manage the platforms and ensure that published information was accurate and regularly updated.
“A website is only as good as the information on it; one that is launched and then abandoned will only disappoint the people,” he said.
Aliyu stressed that the commission’s involvement was aimed at preventing corruption rather than targeting council officials, adding that lessons from the Nasarawa pilot would guide the nationwide rollout.
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In his remarks, NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said the initiative would ease residents’ access to information about government activities, particularly those in remote communities.
He illustrated the challenges with the example of a woman in a rural Nasarawa community who might have to travel more than 60 kilometres at her own expense to find out whether her local government had approved a community project or to lodge a complaint.
“We are in a digital age. Our people are online; therefore, government needs to be online to serve them better,” he said.
Abdullahi identified improved governance, citizen engagement and economic opportunities as the initiative’s three major objectives.
He said NITDA would provide technical standards, develop website templates and train citizens, while encouraging local governments to engage technology experts within their communities to maintain the platforms.
He also disclosed that the agency had pledged to register domain names, develop and host websites for all 774 local government areas for at least one year.
Flagging off the initiative, Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, designated the Nasarawa State Information Technology and Digital Economy Agency as the state’s technical lead for the project.
Sule directed local government councils to take responsibility for the accuracy of information published on their websites and ensure that designated officers verified details before publication.
He said the success of the initiative would depend on the availability of current and useful information rather than the ceremony marking its launch.
The governor added that publishing council allocations would make it difficult for local governments to blame delayed salaries on the non-receipt of their statutory funds.
He, however, challenged the ICPC and NITDA to extend the transparency initiative to state governments to enable citizens to track funds allocated to local councils. He offered Nasarawa State as the first to make such disclosures.
The Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad I, commended the ICPC, NITDA and the Nasarawa State Government for the initiative.
Similarly, Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Danladi Jatau, pledged the legislature’s support, noting that the Constitution empowered the Assembly to oversee local government finances.
The initiative builds on the ICPC’s Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Governments, introduced following the Supreme Court’s July 11, 2024, judgment on local government financial autonomy.
The judgment, delivered in a suit filed by the Federal Government against the 36 state governments, directed that allocations due to democratically elected local government councils from the Federation Account be paid directly to them rather than controlled by state governments.
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