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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has declared that corruption in Nigeria is so widespread and deeply rooted that rigorous enforcement of existing laws would land the majority of citizens behind bars.
The stark warning was delivered on Wednesday by ICPC Resident Anti-Corruption Commissioner for Kaduna State, Sakaba Ishaku, during a capacity-building workshop on local government accountability organised by the Kaduna State Ministry for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Speaking on the theme “Accountability in Local Government: A Springboard for National Development, Ishaku said: “If the laws were to be applied to the latter, about 80 percent of the people you see walking the street freely will be in jail.”
He described corruption as “endemic and deeply entrenched” across every level of society, fuelled by weak institutions, absence of accountability, and socio-economic pressures.
He added that virtually no massive wealth in Nigeria is free of criminality.“Let me be clear, there is no massive wealth that is acquired that has no criminality behind it. Even if it is by bequest, check its origin at best you must have underpaid labour,” he stated.
Ishaku challenged local government chairmen directly, saying it is “appalling and disheartening” that many complete two terms without a single legacy project to show, questioning whether they deserved to be in office at all.
He also criticised Nigeria’s anti-graft laws for being too lenient, describing a five-year jail term for stealing ₦2 billion as “a slap on the wrist,” and called for far stiffer penalties to serve as real deterrents.
The ICPC commissioner urged Kaduna State to adopt the commission’s Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Initiative, noting that the programme has already forced many errant contractors to return to abandoned sites nationwide.
In his remarks, Kaduna State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Sadiq Mamman Legas, corroborated the ICPC’s position and lamented widespread vandalism of public infrastructure.
He revealed that his ministry recently saved over ₦8–9 billion through repairs of rural electrification projects in Zonkwa, Makarfi, Ikara, Kudan, and Soba LGAs, only for communities to steal and vandalise the transformers.
“Development cannot happen where the same people destroy what government provides,” Legas said, calling for massive public enlightenment and greater community ownership of public assets.
Participants at the workshop described the session as an urgent wake-up call for local government leaders and citizens alike to confront the corruption that continues to hold Nigeria back.
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