The Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), on Thursday, August 22. 2019 tabled a request to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allocation of an office building from the pool of buildings forfeited by the corrupt to the federal government through the Commission.
The Director General of ICRC, Engr Chidi Izuwah (Senior) who tabled the request when he visited the EFCC Headquarters with his management team, said having an office building in Abuja would enable his agency carry out its mandate of ensuring sustainable infrastructural development of the country.
“We know that you have made recovery of buildings and we are here to appeal to the EFCC to kindly allocate a building to ICRC in Abuja which will house the ICRC Infrastructure & PPP Academy, which will ensure we have competent human capital to actualise out next level national infrastructural agenda and build capacity across all sectors, while Lagos will be the ICRC Project Finance and Liason Office.”
The Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who accepted the request on behalf of the Commission, informed the ICRC team that the EFCC has buildings that have been permanently forfeited in Abuja and Lagos.
Having an office accommodation in Abuja, Magu noted, will help the ICRC fulfill its “mandate of ensuring sustainable infrastructural development in Nigeria.”
The EFCC boss further disclosed that obliging the request was in line with a directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that forfeited properties be given out to government agencies in need of office space.
“The President has agreed that we should give such properties to government agencies in need of offices to occupy,” Magu said.
He reiterated his commitment to the fight against corruption and also called on all Nigerians to join in the fight saying, “we need the support of every Nigerian in the fight against corruption, as every Nigerian is a stakeholder and has the responsibility to fight corruption.”
While highlighting the responsibilities of ICRC, Engr Izuwah Snr said “if we don’t kill our infrastructure deficit, that deficit will kill us, and some say it is indeed killing us with the problem of water, bad roads and so on. Addressing infrastructure is key in building a prosperous Nigeria.”
He commended the EFCC for the feats it has achieved in the anti-corruption fight, saying “with the recoveries the EFCC has made, the convictions and good causes the EFCC supports, I assure you that Nigerians and future generations and in fact history will remember the EFCC fondly.”
He presented a copy of the ICRC Annual Report 2018 to the Commission, stating that the ICRC was an anti-corruption compliant organization.
“We are compliant with transparency as we have already published and sent our 2018 Annual Report to the Presidency and are proud to submit a copy to you,” the ICRC boss said.