15th July, 2011
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has recommended the prosecution of the Director-General of National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA), Mr. Ezenwanne Isaiah.
In a statement signed by the Media Consultant of ICPC,
Mr. Folu Olamiti, and made available in Abuja on Thursday, the commission said the recommendation followed the conclusion of its investigations into the alleged N266 million fraud in the agency. The agency said Isaiah allegedly violated the provisions of the
ICPC Act, 2000, by misappropriating more than N266 million, being 2008 capital allocation to NSRMEA by the Federal Government.
It said by so doing, Isaiah abused his office by inflating all the contracts awarded by him in the year 2008, contrary to the provisions of the ICPC Act. It said the sum of N266,255,825.00 was allocated to NSRMEA for new and ongoing projects in the 2008 budget for capital projects.
It said the investigation also revealed that the contract for Coal exploration in Lamza in Guyuk Local Government Area of Adamawa was awarded at a contract sum of N34,612,000 above the N19 million approved for it. Similarly, ICPC said N18 million was approved for iron-ore exploration but was awarded at the cost of N19.5 million.
Another N15 million was approved for Ferro-alloy exploration, but a closer examination of the vouchers revealed the payment of N22,650,000 to the contractor, it stated.
It said other fraudulent practices at the agency discovered by investigators were the purchase of non-listed products, the lack of due process and transparency in the award of the contracts and cases of insider trading.