ICPC Recovers N37.4bn, $2.35m in 2025, Aliyu Hails Landmark Gains

ICPC Recovers N37.4bn, $2.35m in 2025, Aliyu Hails Landmark Gains

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it recovered N37.44 billion and $2.353 million in 2025 through asset seizures and forfeitures, marking one of the Commission’s highest annual recoveries.

The ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, disclosed this in Abuja at the Commission’s End-of-Year Engagement, Send-Forth for retiring staff and Annual Merit Awards Ceremony, where he described 2025 as “a pivotal year marked by substantial progress across enforcement, prevention and public enlightenment.”

Reviewing the Commission’s operations, Aliyu said ICPC investigated 263 cases during the year, surpassing its target of 250, and filed 61 cases in court, recording a conviction rate of 55.74 per cent.

He cited the conviction of Professor Cyril Ndifon of the University of Calabar, who was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for offences bordering on sexual harassment and cyberbullying, as one of the landmark cases of the year.

According to him, the judgment underscored the Commission’s resolve to confront all forms of abuse of office.

On preventive efforts, the Chairman said ICPC assessed 344 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) using the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard, conducted 66 corruption-monitoring exercises and tracked 1,490 government projects nationwide.

He added that Systems Study and Corruption Risk Assessments were completed in 12 MDAs to address structural weaknesses that enable corruption.

Aliyu said the Commission also intensified public enlightenment, reaching over 235,000 Nigerians through 644 sensitisation activities, generating 3.5 million digital engagements, and establishing 86 Anti-Corruption Clubs and Vanguards. In addition, 2,707 participants were trained at the ICPC Academy.

He noted that ICPC expanded collaboration with stakeholders, initiating 15 joint activities with partner institutions, while civil society organisations carried out 57 complementary engagements in support of the anti-corruption drive.

In a development he described as historic, the Chairman announced that the Commission had, for the first time, secured the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) allowance for its staff, reaffirming management’s commitment to personnel welfare and institutional strengthening.

Aliyu commended staff members who received merit awards, noting that the peer-driven nomination process enhanced transparency, while retiring officers were honoured for their professionalism and years of service.

Looking ahead, he urged ICPC personnel to recommit themselves to integrity, diligence and professionalism in 2026, warning against complacency and poor conduct.

“Let us recommit ourselves to building a stronger ICPC and contributing more meaningfully to the national anti-corruption agenda,” he said.

In goodwill messages, the Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Victor Muruako, praised ICPC’s interventions at the local government level and pledged deeper inter-agency collaboration.

The Executive Director of the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa, Souad Osman-Aden, also congratulated the Commission on its achievements, particularly in asset recovery and tackling illicit financial flows.

Similarly, the Executive Director of the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, Dr. Umar Yakubu, represented by Mr. Victor Agi, commended ICPC’s transparency in asset recovery and its partnership on the Accountability and Corruption Prevention Programme for Local Government.

The event marked a reflective close to what the Commission described as a year of significant impact in Nigeria’s anti-corruption fight.