The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), secured 180 convictions since its inauguration on September 29, 2000, a new report says.

Findings by TransparencIT Nigeria, a civic tech organisation, said the ICPC secured 26 convictions in 2020, zero in 2001, 2004 and 2005 respectively.

Inaugurated by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, with a focus on bribery and corruption in public service, the agency recorded an increase in conviction rate between 2017 and 2020.

The conviction rate rose from 22 in 2017, 24 in 2018, 25 in 2019 and 26 in 2020, the findings added. It, however, did not publish details of cases and persons convicted thus far.

When contacted by Peoples Gazette, the spokesperson for ICPC, Aruba Ogugua, said the agency could not immediately agree with the findings.

“I have to verify what they are saying because I don’t know their sources,” she said over the telephone.

In April this year, ICPC disclosed that over N1.1 billion and 29 buildings were forfeited to the federal government between January and March 2021.

According to the anti-graft agency’s chairman, Bolaji Owasanoye, N418.8 million and $1.5 million in Domiciliary Accounts were forfeited during the period while ICPC also seized five plots of land, 13 businesses, 29 buildings, one vehicle, and five farms.

He added that ICPC secured 26 convictions in 2020 as well as four convictions in the first quarter of 2021.

But weeks ago, the agency explained that corruption remains endemic in Nigeria, citing lack of ethics and policy implementation as major challenges in the fight against the menace.

ICPC said the loss of truthfulness, nationalism, and respect for human dignity was fuelling corruption in the country.

Meanwhile, the United States, in its ‘2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria’ accused the ICPC of only probing “low- and mid-level government officials.”

The country accused ICPC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of going after low-level officials but delayed procedures in cases of high-level officials indicted for financial crimes.

“The bulk of ICPC and EFCC anti-corruption efforts remained focused on low- and mid-level government officials,” the report said.

“In 2019, both organisations started investigations into and brought indictments against various active and former high-level government officials. Many of the corruption cases, particularly the high-profile ones, remained pending before the court due to administrative or procedural delays,” it added.