UPDATE: Tinubu Appoints New ICPC Chairman, Secretary

Panic As ICPC Grills Agric Ministry Top Officials Over Fraud

by Victor Ndubuisi
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About five senior officials in the Department of Farm Input Support Services of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have reportedly been detained and questioned by agents of the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) regarding the alleged misappropriation of funds.

The top executives were reportedly detained at nine o’clock on Thursday after a sting operation that lasted nearly an hour at their office on the fifth floor of the Bank of Agriculture Building in Garki, Abuja’s Central Business District.

Four of the officials were arrested by anti-graft agency agents for five days before being let go. It was reported that the director of the group had been let go for health reasons.

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According to information obtained by Anaedoonline.ng, the detention had led to friction among the FISS and other parastatal employees within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

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According to a source, the probe is related to the misappropriation of monies intended for monitoring activities and sensitization campaigns, which made it difficult to monitor and evaluate farm inputs.

One of the officers being questioned had more than N200 million in his bank account, and one of his children had more than N100 million.

Additionally, more than N250m in cash was discovered in one of the suspects’ Abuja home.

Over N60 million was deposited into one of the suspects’ bank accounts over the course of six months, according to an ICPC detective probe.

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The ICPC has also seized landed properties, including a bakery and one herbal hospital.

Speaking to the platform, the spokesperson for ICPC, Azuka Ogugua, said, “We don’t give updates on our cases to journalists. We don’t do media trials, that was why I didn’t respond (to your several enquiries. How do you now expect me to start disclosing to you? It doesn’t make sense. I can’t tell you; that is wrong. It’s unethical. How can I be telling you the outcome of our investigation?

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“When the case goes to court, it will be in the public domain. There is nothing I can discuss. It will be tantamount to media trial.”

 

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