Tough times await architects – ICPC promises

Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) Mr Ekpo Nta has said soon, architects who design houses used to launder money will be prosecuted alongside their developers/owners. Addressing architects at the close of the 55th Annual General Assembly and Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) in Abuja recently, Nta fingered the construction […]

Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) Mr Ekpo Nta has said soon, architects who design houses used to launder money will be prosecuted alongside their developers/owners.
Addressing architects at the close of the 55th Annual General Assembly and Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) in Abuja recently, Nta fingered the construction industry as one of those with very high incidence of corruption.
 “We’ve got a lot of petitions relating to the industry,” he said.
The ICPC boss who noted that the best way to hide proceeds from crime is in building stated, “If we see that a house is built with proceeds from crime, we’ll trace everybody who benefited from the crime.”
Nta said some architects are overpaid for a design and directed to transfer the excess money into certain account(s).
Section 22 of ICPC Act spells seven-year jail term for such criminal acts.
“Most corrupt cases are heard only when it comes to sharing of loot,” the ICPC chairman explained.
The anti-graft chairman accused architects of sometimes aiding public officers to break town planning laws.
They also help people involved in collapsed buildings to get documents backdated to cover wrongdoing.
Former governor of Delta State, James Ibori was jailed with his lawyer because the lawyer rendered criminal professional services. Same applies to architects, Nta said.
He charged architects to separate clients’ accounts from theirs, get clients’ records straight and work against corruption.
Nta said, “We’ll begin to find out who owns what house in our country. If you register every car, you should register your house – what each costs and how it was built.”
Section 44 of the ICPC Act empowers the ICPC chairman to question the source of income of the owner(s) of a property.
He revealed that 66 houses out of 100 seized by ICPC in Abuja and other places, belong to a female government official. So far, nobody has gone to court to challenge the confiscation.
Nta charged the leadership of NIA to work with ICPC to reduce corruption.
The new president of NIA, Mr Tonye Oliver Braide promised cooperation.
He said, “The law of the land says if you buy a stolen good, you’re culpable. This is to dissuade people from buying stolen goods because if a thief steals and can’t dispose of what he has stolen, the incentive to steal isn’t there.
“There’s nothing new there. You who have helped the person who has stolen to hide the money, you’re culpable technically.
“When you’re commissioned to do a job, the person has to give enough documentation to show that he actually owns that property.
“Most of the time when clients are commissioning architects, architects demand survey plan — a legal instrument that confirms the ownership — the CofO, title document of the land.
“I know some architects who don’t follow the right part – they’re anxious to draw! Architecture is beyond just drawing.
“You must ask for documentation with which to open a file. If the man says he’s Mr Brown and the documents say he’s Mr Yellow, of course some question marks are there. You have to do diligence checks.”