The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has stated that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development was not involved in the alleged diversion of N2.67 billion school feeding funds as disclosed by its Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, on Monday at the agency’s second national submit on diminishing corruption in the public sector.
Azuka Ogugua, ICPC Spokesperson, in a statement on Tuesday, said Owasanoye’s presentation was misunderstood to have referred to the national home-grown school feeding programme run by the Ministry.
Instead the statement explained that the said diverted fund was meant for the feeding of boarding students in some federal government colleges across the country.
“The Commission wishes to clarify that the “school feeding” referred to by the Chairman of ICPC was the feeding of boarding students in Federal Government Colleges, who were all at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. This is NOT the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme being managed by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development,” the statement read.
“The Commission had discovered through its review of publications on the Open Treasury Portal that statutory monthly allocations meant for the feeding of secondary school students of SOME Federal Government Colleges were diverted into personal accounts.
“This statement is issued for the purpose of clarifying the statement of the Hon. Chairman. Consequently, the general public is hereby advised to disregard the said reports suggesting reference to the school feeding programme going on in primary schools.”
Owasanoye during his presentation had said the ICPC traced the sum of N2.67 billion meant for feeding of students in federal government colleges to private accounts.
“We discovered payments to some federal colleges (secondary schools) for school feeding in the sum of N2.67b during the lockdown when the children were not in school, and some of the money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings,” Owasanoye said.
