The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has commenced probe into the activities of directors and senior officials of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, created by the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
The Punch reports that the anti-graft commission has already frozen the accounts of some of the officials while some vehicles had been seized from them and that the probe started after the commission received information that huge funds were embezzled by the officials.
It would be recalled that the Jonathan administration established SURE-P in February 2012 following nationwide protests caused by the then increase in the prices of petroleum products. The now-rested programme was mandated to convert saved fuel subsidy money to jobs, roads and other people-oriented projects.
An insider told the newspaper that, “We have frozen the bank accounts of some of the officials while we have started seizing some vehicles from them. Our plan is to seize about 200. Presently, we have seized about 30.”
The probe was said to be in connection with a N3bn fraud allegedly involving the Federal Ministry of Finance and the SURE-P Graduate Internship Scheme, GIS.
The report has it that the money was meant for the payment of the allowances of 17,500 participants for eight months, which never got to them.
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