17

Financial Record Keeping: Panacea for Combating Fraud in Nigerian Local

Governments

By

MOSES OLAYINKA (CNA, CPA) Department of Accounting Faculty of Social Sciences,

University of Jos, Jos-Nigeria Abstract

This paper contends that corruption occurs throughout the world but is of special concern in developing countries. Local governments as the third tier of government represent the vehicle for development to the rural and ordinary people. The paper observed that appropriate financial recording of local government transaction can minimize the high prevalence of fraud in the public sector. It explored literature and secondary findings on the nature of fraud and the analytical link between financial records keeping in local governments as a panacea for successful governance; free from corruption and fraud. The recommendations and policy issues raised by the paper offers an in-depth mechanism for curbing the menace of fraud. Chief among these recommendations was the need for both cash and non-cash financial transactions of local councils be recorded in appropriate double entry manner. The conclusion drawn by the paper is for leaders to put up a strong will to curb the ills of fraud. Also the e-payment, system currently in use in federal structure be immediately adopted at the local government levels.

18

Introduction Corruption occurs throughout the world but is of special concern in developing countries: those who pay and receive bribes can expropriate a nation’s wealth leaving little for its poorest citizens (Rose-Ackerman 1998). Fraud has become an endemic feature of public sector activities; the bane of corruption particularly within the public sector of developing economies requires no further introduction. As observed by (Opara 2006:5) in a poll conducted by anti-corruption organization Transparency International (TI) in 2002, out of 50,000 people polled in 64 countries in the world, more than half said they had paid a bribe in the last 12 months. Approximately half of all respondents also indicated that bribery affected business to a large extent. Overall, one in 10 respondents to the survey admitted that they or a member of their household has paid a bribe in the past year (Transparency International 2004). The issues of fraud, corruption and doubtful governance by the public officers call for the fundamentals of transparency and accountability. The issues of transparency and accountability in public finance are inevitable for the economic development of any nation (Sullivan 2004:13). Local government as the third tier of government and closest to populace, cannot undermine its responsibility for transparent management of public resources based on proper policies for revenues collections, resource allocation and their appropriate recording within the framework of Accounting. Good governance at local government level requires conducive political frame work for social, economic and environmental development as well the responsible use of political power and public resources. As affirmed by (Rose-Ackerman 1999) there are three fundamental threats to the construction of good governance and the rule of law in the developing world, namely corruption, clientelism, and capture. All three of these phenomena refer to the use of public office for private gain and their impact goes far beyond the simple diversion of funds. It is generally accepted that the best way to combat this three-headed monster and thereby guarantee the public interest character of the state is by strengthening government accountability through financial record keeping. Statement of the Problem In recent times, the growth of fraud cases in the public sector in Nigeria has been on the increase. In fact, it is synonymous with

19

growth in the economy. The objective of any financial sector is beyond profit alone, but also to safeguard its assets from fraud and gross mismanagement. Hence both governments (local and others) as well as private organizations cannot stand aloof as its hard earned revenues/resources are squandered by few scrupulous elements of the systems. However, fraud has become rampant in the country and the negative impact on public sectors is such that it slows down the pace of economic development and the provision of social services. Although the anchorite and the general public are greatly disturbed, the good news is that fraud can actually be eradicated or at least reduced if the problem is address with all seriousness. This paper therefore attempts to assess the role of financial accounting records in controlling fraud in the Nigerian public sector with particular emphasis on local governments. Objectives of the Study The major objective of this study is to contribute to the literature, on the role accurate financial accounting records in local governments’ authority can play in combating fraud in Nigerian public sector in general. To enhance the understanding of the issue, it is important to state the specific areas of the paper, which include:

i. To examine the concept of fraud. ii. Provide from the literature, the contribution financial records

have in combating fraud and other economic and financial crimes in the Nigerian public sector.

iii. To provide ways for fine turning effective strategies of improving local governments in the discharge of their duties and functions effectively to its citizens.

iv. Finally to contribute the researcher’s quota to existing knowledge on the study.

Review of Literature and Theoretical Framework The success of democratic governance, minimally presupposes the existence of three essential elements: transparency, accountability, and equality. Transparency denotes free access to governmental political and economic activities and decisions. Accountability entails a state of being held responsible, by both its people and its elected bodies, for its choices and actions. And the concept of equality [includes] citizens being treated equally under the law, as well as some degree of equal political participation among them in their own governance (Shende and Bennett, 2004). Calls for

20

transparency, accountability, and equality have emerged in developing countries, with citizens summoning their governments to reveal their incomes and expenditures, as well as strategies and ambitions. This further strengthens the need for accurate record keeping in the discharge of government activities. In the Nigerian public sector, this call is in its peak to demand for accountability and responsible government at all levels Financial Records All activities of local government are translatable in financial terms; from the revenues accruable and all expenditure incurred, there is the need to therefore keep accurate and financial records of all these activities. Financial records are records relating to the receipt, management, and disbursement of all funds of an organisation. These include, but are not limited to, receipts, records, minutes of meetings in which financial decisions are made, bank statements, expense vouchers, cancelled checks, debit memoranda, receipts and disbursements journals, etc. These records are basically the instrument through which transactions are traced from source point to end beneficiary. Financial Record keeping on the other hand is an accounting function which collates all documents necessary within a period and professionally maintains then. Governments (both local and others) have a responsibility to provide basic goods and services to its citizen. Conducting the business of governance involves a number of business events such as buying equipment, purchasing goods, receiving revenues from the people, grants, allocations and paying expenses; wages, salaries etc. In accounting terms, each of these business events is a “transaction”. A transaction is the financial description of each business event. Financial record keeping is essentially the process of book keeping in accounting; concerned with the day to day recording of business transaction in books of original entries (Kumar and Sharma 2001:4). Okwoli affirms this process as the science of recording business transactions in a systematic manner so that the exact financial position of the business can be easily ascertained at any time (Okwoli 2007:14). It is important to recognize that transactions are financial representation of the business event, measured in monetary terms. A broader view is that business events can also be recorded in non-financial terms, such as measures of product/service quality, speed

21

of delivery, customer/citizen satisfaction etc. Each transaction is recorded on a source document that forms the basis for recording in an accounting system. Examples of source documents are invoices and cheques. The accounting system, comprises a set of accounts that summarizes the transactions that have been recorded on source documents and entered into the specific accounting books. Fraud Delineated Corruption as affirmed by several authors remains the major bane to economic transformation (Okonjo-Iweala and Osafo-Kwaako 2007). Corruption exhibits its ugliness through a number of media; fraud being the top of them all. Fraud may be represented in different ways; essentially it is more financial in nature than legal. Both individuals and businesses commit many criminal activities that cost businesses, consumers, government agencies, and stockholders considerable sums of money each year, which are all manifestations of fraud. Public crime is not new in Nigeria in fact; fraudulent activities have been a common part of government operations for years. In the broadest sense, a fraud is a deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction (Wikipedia 2008). Defrauding people of money is presumably the most common type of fraud, but there have also been many fraudulent activities. In criminal law, fraud is the crime or offense of deliberately deceiving another in order to damage them – usually, to obtain property or services unjustly (Lozano 2006). Fraud is most often than not considered of as a victimless crime; on the contrary Nigerian citizens are all victims of this menace, whether directly through our businesses or indirectly as members of the general public suffering as a result of poor service delivery or price inefficiency. Rabiu (2008:12) in agreement with Mahlaba (2004:1) affirmed that “Fraud cost public sector organizations hundreds of millions of Naira each year”. The term fraud is not specifically defined by legislation in Nigeria: therefore makes it impossible to lay down a hard and fast definition that comprehends fraud in all its ramifications. As a legal concept, fraud is a genuine term embracing all multifarious means, which human ingenuity can devise and which are resorted to by any one individual to get advantage over another by false suggestions or by suppression of truth. It includes all forms

22

of cheating, stealing, cunning, and any unfair way by which another person is cheated Rabiu (2008). In Nigeria we could popularly refer to such as 419 (advance fee fraud). According to Lorsase, (2004:24). “It is an international perversion of the truth whether by word or by conduct” Fraud is described by Howard, (1976:5) as “that which consist of embezzlement, forgery, manipulation, misappropriation and falsification of goods, cash and accounts in view of gaining undue advantage” Odusegun (1998:186) further affirms: that fraud is the use of dishonest means to obtain an unjust or illegal material advantage. For an action to constitute fraud therefore there must be a dishonest intention and the action must be intended to benefit the perpetrator to the detriment of another person. The frequent setting up of panels, commission and committees of inquiries to probe fraudulent activities of some public servants at all levels of government in Nigeria is a testimony to how deeply rooted fraud is in the nation’s fabric. According to Ndibe and Okoye (1998:73) “Fraud includes impersonation, theft, attempt to unlawfully obtain, cheat, dupe other people”. From all the definitions above, fraud then is comprised of some fundamental elements: The first one is premeditated deceit. The second is speculation, a collective term for any

commitment such as embezzlement, defalcation or misappropriation of funds.

A case of fraud can be established when a person, through deception or trick acquires a natural advantage he could not otherwise have acquired lawfully or through normal process. A person in a position of trust and responsibility, in defiance of prescribed standards, breaks the rules to advance his client or his employer. Local Governments and Their Roles In a federal system like Nigeria, local governments are closer to the people and hence could effectively alter socioeconomic and political conditions within their jurisdictions. Apart from providing and maintaining basic infrastructures, local governments can complement the economic activities of other levels of government (Ekpo and Ndebbio, 1998:2) There are presently 774 local

23

government authorities in Nigeria, a presupposed average of 21 per state spread across six geo-political zones of the country(see Appendix A). Local government authorities may be established by the state houses of assembly, and over the years the same forces that have lobbied more states (i.e. demands by minority communities or sub-communities for their own homelands), have created similar pressures for additional local government authorities. However, the National Assembly is resisting this tendency and the number of local government authorities may stabilize at not much higher than the current number. The functions, structure, composition and finance of local government are determined by state law within the parameters set forth in Section 7 and the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution. While there is some variation from state to state, the majority of local governments have been established on the “presidential model”—the chairman of the local government authorities is directly elected by eligible voters in the local government area, and governs with the assistance of councillors who he appoints to head local government departments. The local government council is the legislative arm of the local government authorities. Members of these councils are elected from single member wards (i.e. districts). The term of both the chairman and council of the local government authorities is currently three years. With the return to democratic civil rule in 1999, authority to reform local government reverted to state governments where some legislative houses have tried to wrestle supervision over local governments from the executive arm of government. As a result, many state governments have passed new local government laws that have significantly changed the operational rules of local governance. However, local autonomy is restricted by higher levels of government not only by statute but also by limitations on their discretion in making and executing their budgets and in control of their personnel in the form of guidelines having the force of law periodically issued by state governments as policy. Thus, local governments operate under twin sets of rules, one statutory and the other administrative. Local governance is also affected positively or negatively by the effectiveness of necessary administrative supervision such as the issuance of guidelines for budgeting by competent authority and regular external audit of accounts or lack of it.

24

The present Local Government system in Nigeria started with the 1976 Local Government reforms which aimed at restructuring the Local Government administration in conformity with modern society, and at best to make Nigeria’s Local Government administration an ideal in Africa. By the reform a Local Government unit should have a population range of 150,000 to 800,000. The reform focuses on the administration of the public at the grassroots level where the majority of the population of Nigeria lies. Though the reform started in 1976, it passed through various stages of development in terms of scope of operation, functions and general administration. Some of the aims of the reform are:

(a) The desire to extend the principle of Federalism to its logical conclusion, by bringing the government to the grassroots level. (b) Uniformity of local Government administration in all the Local Government Councils of the Federation of Nigeria.

The second phase of the Local Government reforms is the election of the 1st Executive Chairman in all the Local Government Councils of Nigeria and the granting of autonomy to each of these Local Government Councils in 1988. Thus Local Governments, which used to be an appendage of the defunct Ministry of Local Government, has now become a true 3rd tier of government in Nigeria. In this connection, one can indeed declare that Nigeria operates three tiers of Government; Federal, State and Local Governments. Local governments are development-oriented and social service delivery organisations whose functions are located within the framework of national and state policies. The Functions of Local Government The functions and responsibilities of the Local Government administration are generally to assist in maintaining law, order and good government within the area of its authority. An elected council is made up of the Chairman and Councillors, who are elected by members of the community through direct ballot and on a non-party basis. The Federal Government attaches great importance to the Local Government as an instrument of development and a training ground for administration. To this end, the Government has approved that, in general, the functions which the Local Authorities are to perform should be those which:

25

i. Require detailed local knowledge for efficient performance; ii. Success depends on community responsiveness and

Participation; iii. Are of a personal nature requiring the provision of amenities

close to where the individuals affected live and in which the significant use of discretion and understanding of individuals is needed.

The Responsibilities of Local Governments Based on the above functions, other responsibilities were approved by the Federal Military Government on the findings and recommendations of the Committee that reviewed Local Government Administration in Nigeria:

i. Responsibility for basic environmental sanitation and other aspects of preventive health services;

ii. Administration of maternity centres, dispensaries and leprosy clinics and Health Centres;

iii. Construction and maintenance of roads and drains, excluding federal and state roads;

iv. Jurisdiction over local inland waterways not designated as international water ways;

v. Rural water supply and extension of urban water supply; vi. Construction, and maintenance of primary schools; vii. Agriculture and veterinary extension services; viii. Town Planning; ix. Care of markets, motor parks, and gardens; x. Maintenance of law and order; and xi. Afforestation.

The Local Government should, in addition, provide:

a. Inspection of meat and abattoirs b. Nursery, primary and adult-education c. Information and public enlightenment d. Scholarships and bursaries e. Public libraries and reading rooms f. Agricultural and animal health extension services and

veterinary clinics. g. Fire services h. Lighting and drainage i. Support for arts and culture j. Control of pollution k. Control of beggars and prostitution, l. Homes for destitute, the infirm and orphans

26

m. Public utilities including road and water transport n. Public housing programmes o. Regulation and control of buildings p. Town and country planning q. Operations of commercial undertakings r. Control of traffic and parking s. Pipe sewerage systems

Finally, Local Government authorities now have the discretionary power to plan for the development of its area of jurisdiction. With these enormous responsibilities and functions the local governments are saddled with; all avenues must be explored to combat fraud and corruption which stands between the local governments and the success of their goals.

Combating Fraud in Local Governments: the role of Financial Records

As affirmed, above the ills of fraud and corruption in the development of local areas cannot be overemphasized. As a way out of this danger threatening the development of local areas; appropriate financial (accounting) record is one sure way to curbing the menace. Fraud as a process requires two major variables to successfully thrive:

the intention to carry out the act, and the right opportunity.

The latter is where the role of financial records comes to play. It is common to find public office holders with huge desire to perpetrate fraud; but intention alone is not a sufficient ground for fraud or corrupt practice to occur. The most important of these two variables is the opportunity created. In fact even where the intention for fraud is absent, an opportunity created could incite the desire to commit an act of fraud. Created opportunity here refers to administrative and accounting loopholes existing and noticed by the perpetrator. Opportunities are created basically as results of poor or inadequate financial records to capture every business transaction of the government in full details. Curbing fraud in Nigerian Public sector therefore will need full financial documentation of all revenue and expenses relating to the day to day activities of the government. Adequate financial records have the capacity of curbing and in the long run eliminating fraud in the following;

27

i. ensuring efficient conduct of governments business and prevents wastages

ii. minimising the occurrence of fraud and error or irregularities iii. Protecting assets against improper disbursements. iv. Assuring a high degree of accuracy and dependability of all

the financial and operating information. v. Judging operating efficiency and highlighting area of

weaknesses. vi. Above all these measures, the adherence to established

policies and procedures of the government; is only attained through financial record keeping.

In summary, the adequacy of financial records has the capacity of creating Accounting controls: which is concerned with the controls related to accounting systems i.e. checking transactions as per the prescribed procedures (due process) and safeguarding the assets of local government. Basically accounting control comprises of the following: Budgeting control Standard costing and deviation analysis Internal check Internal audit Bank reconciliation and Self-balancing etc. Financial records if properly used in the discharge of local affairs holds the capability of reducing fraud in local government and the public sector as whole. Methodology of the study The study was carried out basically on the theoretical framework of the nature of financial records in curbing fraud in Nigerian local governments. However all the data used was secondary in nature and their analysis was based on deductive statistics; which merely explains the features and characteristics of the data without necessarily making inferential judgement. Discussion of Findings From the data examined it is obvious that fraud in the Public sector remained in the increase, with the highest number of reported cases between September 2002 to October 2003 hitting a total number of 439 cases inclusive of those reported, treated and still under

28

investigation by the commission (see Appendix C). By the end of 2004 a total number of 104 persons were charged to court on account of several offences committed against the nation. This is in addition to the other cases being pursued by the other anti-graft agencies. As at 2006 the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) made well over 56 convictions on corruption, money laundering, and related offences. With assets well over $5 billion (approximately ₦600 billion) frozen and seized from corrupt officials, their agents and cronies (Ribadu 2006). The most worrisome of these findings is the fact that all the cases of public fraud had all tricking effect to local governments of the nation. A further analysis showed that the number of cases reported and/or referred to commission by other anti-graft agencies had the North Central recording the highest cases of fraud among public office holders with an alarming rate of 196 cases in 2004 only and an average of 141 cases annum (see Appendix B). Recommendations and Policy Issues To the leave the seed of fraud and corrupt practices to grow beyond the level it is now is to allow evil overcome good. Local government for its peculiar nature to the development of a nation, especially one as Nigeria must be given rapt attention on the issue of fraud. As a follow up therefore on the use of record to curb the issue of fraud in Local governments in Nigeria, the following recommendations and policies must be strengthened and established in local governments where they do not exist.

i. All transactions involving cash and non-cash financial event must be recorded in the officially designated book, in compliance with the double entry requirement of accounting.

ii. Financial and accounting operations must be separated i.e. the handling of cash and the recording of the movement thereof should be done by different persons.

iii. Responsibility for the performance of jobs must be clearly defined- to avoid overlapping and confusing roles.

iv. Rotation principle relating to transfer of an employee from one job to another should be an inflexible guiding rule. This is an effective safeguard against collusion and is recognised as important cannon of sound public organisation.

v. Clear and well defined rules should be laid down and practically followed.

29

vi. Defined disciplinary measures must be strictly adhered to as deterrent to any officer, involved in fraudulent practices from the local government point to other levels of government.

vii. Proper counterfoil or duplicate receipt books must be used for all monies received and vouchers obtained for every payment.

viii. Authorisation must be properly done by designated person. Approvals gotten from decision of meetings must be accompanied with the minutes of meeting where necessary to affirm authenticity.

ix. The lessons of e-payments be introduced and adhered to at local government levels.

Conclusion Fraud has done enough harm to the lives and businesses of the average Nigerian. No delay should be entertained in curbing and possibly bringing it to an end. Financial record keeping, though a major instrument in the process of cracking the ills of fraud, is certainly not the only mechanism required to permanently put an end to the problem. A conscious effort of all policy makers is required in the fight against fraud. The need for the political will of leaders must be of greater impact today if the fight against fraud must succeed. Defined cases of corruption and fraud must not be treated with kid gloves as in time past. More to these emphases must be on equal scale of prosecution to all offenders, without fear or favour. Finally, the new policy of the federal government on e-payment can be effectively duplicated at local levels to reduce the incidences of fraud, through loss of audit trail. References Ekpo A. H and Ndebbio J. E. U (1998): Local Government Fiscal

Operations in Nigeria. AERC Research Paper, 73 African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi March 1998.

ICPC (2005): Progress Report September 2000 to July 2005. A publication of The

Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission of Nigeria.

30

Kumar R. and Sharma (2001): Fundamentals of Practical Auditing.

Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi, India Lorsase, G.K. (2004). Accountants Best Practices in the Prevention of

Fraud and Financial Crimes. Journal of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria Vol. 12 No. 2:31 April – June.

Lozano, J. A. (2006); Judge vacates conviction of Ken Lay.

Posted 17 October 2006 on the web, A publication of Associated Press. Ndibe, N. and Okoye, E. (1998): Auditing and Investigations, Awka,

Anambra. A publication of Future Tech publishers. Odusegun, K. (1998): Basic Auditing, Abeokuta, Kelly Publishers. Okonjo-Iweala N. and Osafo-Kwaako P. (2007): Nigeria’s Economic

Reforms: Progress and Challenges. Working paper Number 6, of The Brookings Institution 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, DC 20036, March 2007.

Okwoli A. A. (2007): Principles of Financial Accounting: A publication of GO-GO

International Limited, 41 Rwang Pam Street, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. Opara, I. I. (2006): Nigerian Anti-Corruption Initiatives, Texas

Southern UNiversity, Thurgood Marshall School Of Law. The Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress Legal Series Year 2006 Paper 1392)

Rabiu R. (2008): Assessing the Role of Economic and Financial Crime

Commission (EFCC) in Control of Fraud in the Nigerian Public Sector. Project submitted to the Department of accounting, faculty of social science university of Jos, Jos Nigeria in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of Bachelor of Science

Ribadu N. (2006): Nigeria’s Struggle with Corruption; being an abridged and

edited version of the presentation to US Congressional House Committee on International Development, Washington, DC on 18 May 2006.on the activities of The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), in Nigeria.

Rose-Ackerman S. (1999): Corruption and Government: Causes, Consequences

and reform. Cambridge University Press Publishers, United Kingdom. Rose-Ackerman S. (1998): Corruption and Development: Annual World Bank

Conference on Development Economics (pp 35-57). Published by The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, USA.

Sullivan J. D. (2006): Corruption, Economic Development and

31

Governance. Private sector perspectives from developing countries; Business Against Corruption. Implementation of the 10th United Nations Global Compact Principle Against Corruption. Published by the United Nations Global Compact Office, April 2006.

Sullivan J. D. (2004): Anti-Corruption Initiatives from a Business View point, retrieved 23 August 2008. From http://www.cipe.org/publications/fs/articles/initiatives.htm

Shende S. and Bennett T. ( 2004): Transparency and Accountability in

Public Financial Administration. Transparency and Accountability in the Public Sector in the Arab Region, Concept Paper 2 of the United Nations

Stevens M.,Gboyega A. and Barkan J. D (2001): State and Local

Governance in Nigeria. A World Bank; Public Sector Capacity Building Program for African Region. Final Draft August 2, 2001.

Transparency International (2004): Cameroon Tops Bribery

Poll. Energy Intelligence group, Inc., International Oil December 10, 2004. Retrieved on the 12th of December 2007, from http://www.transparency.org/index.html

Wikipedia (2008): Fraud, retrieved from Wikipedia, the free

encyclopaedia, 16 December 2008, at 02:50 (UTC). From http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/special:search/motivation

32

Appendix A Characteristics of Nigerian States and Number of Local Governments

Name of State Date of Foundation Geo-Political Zone No. of LGAs

Abia 1991 South-East 17 Adamawa 1976 North-East 21

Akwa-Ibom 1987 South-South 31 Anambra 1991 South-East 21 Bauchi 1976 North-East 20 Bayelsa 1996 South-South 32 Benue 1976 Middle-Belt 23 Borno 1967 North-East 27

Cross River 1967 South-South 18 Delta 1991 South-South 25

Ebonyi 1996 South-East 13 Edo 1963 South-South 18 Ekiti 1996 South-West 16

Enugu 1946 South-East 17 FCT 1976 -- 6

Gombe 1996 North-East 10 Imo 1976 South-East 27

Jigawa 1991 North-West 27 Kaduna 1946 North-West 23 Kano 1976 North-West

Katsina 1991 North-West 34 Kebbi 1991 North-West 21 Kogí 1991 Middle-Belt 21

Kwara 1967 Middle-Belt 16 Lagos 1976 South-West 20

Nasarawa 1996 Middle-Belt 13 Níger 1976 Middle-Belt 25 Ogun 1976 South-West 20 Ondo 1987 South-West 18 Owun 1991 South-West 30 Oyo 1946 South-West 33

Plateau 1967 Middle-Belt 17 Rivers 1967 South-South 23 Sokoto 1976 North-West 23 Taraba 1996 North-East 16 Yobe 1991 North-East 17

Zamfara 1996 North-West 14 Source: Steven et al (2001)

33

Appendix B Received petitions according to Geo-political Zones

Year North East

North Central

North West

South East

South South

South West

Total

2001 9 81 17 28 47 82 264 2002 14 144 24 48 47 88 365 2003 11 129 19 45 73 90 367 2004 15 196 21 39 66 114 451 2005 15 154 26 56 67 81 399 Source: ICPC Progress Report 2005

Distribution of Cases Referred to the commission by the Different

Geo-political Zones

0

50

100

150

200

250

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

North East

North Central

North west

South East

South South

South West

34

Appendix C Summary of Petitions referred for investigation to the Commission Period Number of

Petitions Fully Investigated

Number of Petitions Under Investigated

Number of Petitions Rejected

Total

Oct 00 to Sept 01

11 9 Nil 20

Oct 01 to Sept 02

19 139 27 185

Oct 02 to Sept 03

17 335 87 439

Oct 03 to Sept 04

16 292 19 327

Oct 04 to Sept 05

17 187 5 209

2006* 17 314 53 384** Source: ICPC Progress Report 2005

*Based on estimation for the period in question ** Based on estimation for the total in question

Number of Case Treated by ICPC in some years

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

No. P. F. I.

No. P. U. I.

No. P. R.

Source: Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Progress Report 2005. Key: No. P. F. I.: The Number of Petitions Fully Investigated No. P. U. I.: The Number of Petitions Under Investigation No. P. R.: The Number of Petitions Rejected