PPPRA top officials, others risk arrest, prosecution for ignoring ICPC invitation

The ICPC is angry that officials accused of corruption kept ignoring its summons.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, on Wednesday warned individuals and public officials against ignoring its invitations for questioning in respect of petitions brought before it for investigations, saying culprits risk arrest and prosecution.
The spokesperson of the Commission, Folu Olamiti, said the anti-corruption agency frowned at such flagrant disobedience of the law, warning that it would not hesitate to invoke the provisions of section 25 of the ICPC Act 2000 against anyone who refuses to honour its invitations.
The warning was coming against the background of the refusal of the former Deputy Governor of Imo State, Jude Agbaso; some leaders of the State House of Assembly and some officials of the state government to honour several invitations for questioning in connection with petitions against them on alleged financial impropriety and corruption.
On Tuesday, some top officials of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, including the Executive Secretary, Reginald Stanley, invited by the Commission to answer questions raised in a petition against them over alleged N3.5billion fraud in disbursements to five inspectorate firms under the Petroleum Support Fund, PSF, also  failed to honour a summon by the anti-graft agency.
Although the PPPRA boss was said to have been outside the country on the day he was scheduled to appear before the Commission, he was sighted at a public event in Lagos.
Mr. Olamiti said the Commission was unhappy that rather than honour the invitation in respect of two petitions dated December 17, 2012 and March 26, 2013, Mr. Agbaso, who was impeached by the Imo State House of Assembly on February 13, 2013, after he was indicted over alleged abandonment of a N1.45billion road construction contract, chose to mobilise some women and youths to demonstrate against the agency.
“Preliminary investigations by the operatives of ICPC indicated that the State Government awarded a contract to JPROS International Nigeria Limited for the construction of three roads within Owerri Municipality at a cost of N1.15billion. The contractor was alleged to have abandoned the project after executing works valued at slightly over N300 million, which he collected as moblisation fees,” he said.
The Commission said that based on the records of incorporation, Mr. Akanno, the Special Assistant to the Governor and Chairman, Committee on Monitoring and Implementation of Road Projects in Imo state, was identified as a director of JPROS International Nigeria Limited.
In an attempt to frustrate further investigations into the petition, it was gathered that Mr. Akanno instituted a suit challenging the Commission’s authority to summon him for questioning.
In the petition by the Association for Local Government of Nigeria, ALGON, Imo State Chapter, against the state House of Assembly over alleged misappropriation and diversion of N73billion funds belonging to the 27 local government councils of the state for which their three years statutory allocation were used as collateral, the Commission said several invitations to 12 functionaries in the state were ignored.
The Commission noted that the petition had alleged that “the Speaker of the House and his men were beneficiaries of these contracts in order to prevent them from carrying out their oversight functions on the projects”.
Out of the 12 invitations sent, the Commission said only five, including the Clerk, Imo State House of Assembly; the Branch Managers of Zenith Bank Plc and Guarantee Trust Bank Plc as well as Accountant-General of the State and Commissioner for Finance, honoured the appointment.
The Commission said seven others, including the Secretary to the State Government; the Principal Secretary to the State Governor; the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources; the State Commissioner for Works; the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, the Commissioner for Local Government and the Branch Manager of Diamond Bank Plc, Owerri, all failed to show up.
“Instead of honouring the invitation of the Commission, the suspects have dragged ICPC and its investigators to court, seeking the enforcement of their fundamental human rights,” Mr. Olamiti lamented.
“The Commission is aware of its independence and orchestrated demonstrations, blackmail of being used by external parties or persons, brazen impunity, smear campaigns, etc. will not stop it from executing its mandate. It is only the courts, not ICPC, that can declare suspects or accused persons guilty,” he added.
The PPPRA top officials, who were invited to appear before the Commission on Tuesday, over a petition concerning alleged N3.5billion fraud in disbursements to five inspectorate firms engaged under the Petroleum Support Scheme, PSF, and sundry financial impropriety in contract awards, also failed to keep the appointment, as Mr. Stanley cited official commitments outside the country.
The petition had alleged that PPPRA management had inflated the amount paid as commission to each of the inspectorate firms from the standard industry rate of N5million per month usually paid by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC subsidiary, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, to a whooping N70million a month.
Though the General Manager (Operations), Wole Adamolekun, confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES the invitation of the anti-graft agency and the readiness of the management of the pricing regulatory agency to honour it, it was gathered that the affected officials still did not keep the appointment as at Wednesday.
Rather, in a desperate bid to suppress the report in the media, hirelings from the agency were on Wednesday despatched to various media houses, including PREMIUM TIMES, to attempt to halt further publications, while officials of its media department did a poor job with a refutal, which attempted to question the authenticity of our report without addressing any specific issue.

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