…as Nasarawa becomes first state to flag off ICPC–NITDA local government websites pilot
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has recovered over ₦5.3 billion from a review of local government accounts in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory, and is now moving to make councils across the country publish their finances online.
The Chairman of ICPC, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this on Thursday in Lafia at the flag-off of the ICPC–NITDA Local Government Websites Pilot. The pilot begins in Nasarawa State, ahead of a planned rollout to all 774 local government areas.
Dr. Aliyu said the Supreme Court’s July 2024 judgment, which affirmed the financial autonomy of local government councils and the direct payment of their statutory allocations, had raised the stakes at the grassroots.
“Autonomy brings responsibility. Funds that now flow directly to the councils must be spent openly and for the benefit of the people,” he said.
The recoveries, he said, show both the scale of the risk at the grassroots and what scrutiny can achieve, and the websites are the preventive side of the same effort.
Built on a standardised template developed under the Commission’s Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Governments (ACPP-LG), they will require councils to disclose information in five areas: financials, covering budgets, allocations, revenue, expenditure, audits and debts; open procurement; human resources; citizen engagement, including whistleblowing channels; and control of corruption.
“When these records are published regularly, citizens can follow the money, the media can ask informed questions and oversight institutions can detect risks early, before they become losses,” he said.
The Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, CON, performed the flag-off at the Banquet Hall, Government House, at the event themed “Deepening Transparency and Accountability at the Grassroots through Digital Disclosure”. The Secretary to the Nasarawa State Government, Dr. Shuaibu Magaji Labaran, SAN, delivered the welcome address.
Dr. Aliyu said the choice of Nasarawa as the first state reflected the Governor’s commitment to good governance.
He noted that the Commission’s training institution, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, is located in Keffi in the state and has long enjoyed the support of the State Government.
He acknowledged the pledge made by the NITDA Director-General, during an earlier courtesy visit to ICPC, that the agency would register the domain names, develop the websites and host them for at least one year for all 774 local government areas.
ICPC, he said, brings the content standards and accountability framework, while NITDA brings the technology and platform.
“A website is only as good as the information on it; one that is launched and then abandoned will only disappoint the people,” the Chairman said, appealing to council chairmen to nominate committed officers, take ownership of the platforms and keep them updated promptly and accurately.
Dr. Aliyu assured the councils that ICPC visits the websites as a partner in prevention and not as an instrument of witch-hunting, adding that lessons from the pilot will refine the template and the rollout plan for the remaining states.
“Transparency is not an event. It is a habit that will lead to accountability,” he said.
In his goodwill message, the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, painted the picture of a woman in a remote Nasarawa community who must travel more than 60 kilometres, at her own expense, to learn whether her council has approved a community project or to lodge a complaint.
“We are in a digital age. Our people are online; therefore, government needs to be online to serve them better,” he said.
The DG listed three objectives of the initiative: better governance, better citizen engagement and better economic opportunities.
He said NITDA would set standards, build templates and train citizens, and urged councils to use local talent to build and sustain the websites.
He disclosed that the pilot would be scaled to every council in the country. “Our ambition is not 774 websites. It is 774 digitally empowered local governments delivering better experience to millions of Nigerians,” he said.
Flagging off the pilot, Governor Sule introduced the Nasarawa State Information Technology and Digital Economy Agency (NASITDEA) as the state’s technical champion for the initiative.
He directed each council to take responsibility for the accuracy and regular updating of its published information, and to assign responsible officers to verify information before publication.
The Governor observed that a website is only credible when it is current and useful, and called on civil society, the media and community institutions to use the platforms.
Success, he said, would be measured by whether people can find the information, whether it is current and whether it is used, not by the launch.
He added that with allocations disclosed as they are received, the era of councils failing to pay salaries on the claim that funds had not arrived was over.
He also told ICPC and NITDA that the initiative would not be complete until state governments make the same disclosures, and offered Nasarawa as the first to join, so that citizens can tell where funds meant for councils are held up.
In his remarks, the Emir of Lafia, HRH Justice Sidi Bage Muhammad I (rtd.), expressed pride at being part of the occasion.
He commended the Chairman of ICPC, the Director-General of NITDA and Governor Sule for the initiative.
The Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Dr. Danladi Jatau, pledged the Assembly’s backing.
He recalled that the Constitution empowers the House to oversee local government finances and commended the Governor for his openness on federal allocations.
The flag-off was followed by a technical session on the standardised website template.
Closing his remarks, Dr. Aliyu reaffirmed that ICPC remains committed to working with the Nasarawa State Government, NITDA, the local government councils and the people of the state to make transparency at the grassroots last.