MDAs use IT projects to siphon funds, NITDA tells EFCC

Government ministries, departments and agencies are using bogus IT projects to siphon public money. That’s according to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). The agency director-general Isa Pantami disclosed this when the acting chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and his team visited the IT agency headquarters on Tuesday in Abuja.  “Some […]

Government ministries, departments and agencies are using bogus IT projects to siphon public money.

That’s according to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The agency director-general Isa Pantami disclosed this when the acting chairman of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and his team visited the IT agency headquarters on Tuesday in Abuja.

 “Some MDAs repeatedly engage in IT projects with no provision for their sustainability afterward. Information Technology (IT) is one of the areas which have been used to siphon government funds simply because of its complexity,” he said, according to a statement from the meeting.

NITDA has become a clearing house for all IT projects by constitution.

This way, he said, corruption would be reduced and huge funds would be saved for the government, adding that the EFCC should support the agency to enable it enforce the IT clearance law.

In his remarks, the Acting Chairman of EFCC Ibrahim Magu said the two government organizations have a lot in common, and more needed to be learned from each other.

“EFCC needs the support of every Nigerian in the fight against corruption for the betterment of our future generation because the Commission cannot do it alone," Magu said.