Jigawa anti-corruption agency recovers N300m in six months

Jigawa State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC), has recovered over N300 million public funds in the last six months. The commission’s Chairman, Salisu Abdu, made the disclosure when he fielded questions from journalists during a workshop organised by the anti corruption agency for public office holders in the state.

The anti graft agency was established by Public Complaint and Anti- Corruption Law No. 1, 2022, and inaugurated by Governor Umar Namadi in February, 2024. The commission has the cardinal mandate of fighting corruption and financial crime in the state.

Mr Abdu said the commission also received and resolved over 200 complaints since its establishment a year ago.

“We have dual functions of attending to public complaints and investigating corrupt practices.

“And I’m happy to say that within the period under review, we’ve won the public confidence. Today, I will be proud to say that more than 200 complaints were received within this short period of time and 75 per cent were resolved.

“And we’ve also recovered public funds worth more than N300 million from 2024 to date. This is also another milestone,” Mr Abdu said.

He explained that the commission has also invited over five former and serving council chairmen for questioning, adding that it is part of the mandate of the agency to investigate any person found wanting in breach of public trust.

“Over five ex-council chairmen came to the commission, even serving ones, not only ex-chairmen were invited for one reason or another.

“Any person found wanting in breach of public procurement process, public rules and regulations or anything.

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“So when we invite a council chairman, it is not something to celebrate, it is not something new, it is part of our mandate. It is not all about arrest, ours is invitation, we invite people when we have reasonable suspicion that you’re involved in a corrupt practice or any breach of public process,” he added.

The chairman identified land matters as one of the areas of concern to the commission, as most of the 75 per cent of the resolved cases had to do with land ownership.

Mr Abdu assured that the commission would continue to sensitize and enlighten the public on the implication and consequences of engaging in corrupt practices, as part of its strategies of preventing corruption before it occurs.

According to him, one of the strategies of the commission is engaging in rigorous public enlightenment and education on the dangers of corruption as a way of preventing the menace in the society.