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Government officials at the Kaduna State Ministry of Science and Technology and the Due Process Office are at daggers drawn over the procedure for award of contract and the formula for sharing kickback from the contractors

A cold war is brewing between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Due Process Office in Kaduna State over award of contracts. The war started with the recent decision of the Due Process Office to query the ministry for not following due process in awarding the contracts for the installation and networking of software to ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, of government in the state and the supply of 200 computers. The first contract  was awarded to Dialogue Computers Limited,  at the cost of N193,189,092 while the  second contract for the supply of 200 personal computers went  to COPS Nigeria Limited at the cost of N60 million.

Although work on the installation of software at the ministries, departments and Agencies, MDAs, was still in progress, it was gathered that the Due Process Office identified some lapses in the award of the installation contract.  It allegedly denied any knowledge of contract for the supply of 200 computers by the ministry. In a letter addressed to Bashir Sakadadi, the commissioner of science and technology, dated September 16, 2011, Ahmed Mohammed, chairman of Due Process Office, observed that the ministry did not attach the extract (conclusion) decision of the state executive council meeting which approved the contract and authorised advance payment for a percentage of the contract sum.

The Due Process Office also alleged that the second schedule of the contract agreement was not signed by the contractor. The letter further read: “In view of the above, the ministry is advised to ensure that the above observation is corrected in order to make the section legally binding and enforceable on the contractor and the client and to warrant the release of certification for payment of 50 percent advance payment as requested by the ministry.”

 Mohammed observed that the contractor failed to adhere to the conditions attached to  the part three of the agreement which stipulated the procedure for advance payment. According to him, he did this  without any cogent reasons. He frowned at the situation whereby the contract which was awarded in May 2010 with a completion period of 13 weeks, had its agreement signed August 2011, twelve weeks after the award of the contract. The letter also revealed that there was no evidence of commencement of work for the supply and installation of the computers. The Due Process Office described the ministry’s action as a clear case of inefficient procurement performance, since no cogent reason was given for the long delay and no action taken against the contractor for failure to execute the project within the agreed completion period. “This is a disturbing scenario and should be strongly discouraged, as there is no value for money for the government,” Mohammed said.

Responding, Sakadadi explained that the delay in signing the contract agreement document was because it had to pass through the Ministry of Justice for vetting and advice as directed by the tender’s board. He said that the ministry adhered to the first and second observations raised by the board while the third was the responsibility of Skye Bank, the bank used for the transaction.

A copy of the extract from the executive council meeting for the award of contract for the supply and installation of networks and hardware to the  Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, dated June 16, 2011, revealed that Dialogue Computers Limited  was awarded the contract at the sum of N193,189,092. The company was given an advance payment of N96, 594,546, being 50 percent of the contract sum subject to provision of an acceptable bank guarantee.

However, Jafaru Saidu, an architect and permanent secretary of the ministry, told Newswatch that all the laid down procedures were followed to the latter in the award of the two contracts. According to him, the award of contract for the supply of the computers was bidded for by three companies before COPS Nigeria Limited got the contract. “The Due Process Office was represented in the bidding by Sanusi, a bidding document was prepared by our consultants. Out of the three, one was disqualified because of lack of tax clearance. Therefore, COPS Nigeria Limited was selected based on merit,” he said.

He added that the tendering was advertised while it passed through the state tender’s board and other relevant organs before the contract was given to the contractor. He challenged anybody with proof of any fraudulent act in the award of the contract to make it public, pointing out that the due process office was carried along throughout the whole deals. “No contract would be awarded without due process certification, and the due process office has giving us certificate for the award and payment for the two contracts,” he told Newswatch. Saidu blamed the due process office for the unnecessary delays in supervising government contracts.

 But Newswatch learnt that one of the directors at the ministry who was sidelined in the contract deal burst the bubble. Also beyond the correspondences between the board and the ministry over the procedure of awarding the contract, the cause of the problem is their disagreement over the formula for the sharing of the kick backs the contractor gave them to get the contract. A government official told Newswatch that it was the failure of the ministry to share the amount equitably with the chairman of the Due Process Office that led to the face off.

Investigation also showed that no single computer has been supplied to the state College of Education, which it was meant for or any other government agencies. A source from the Government House, Kaduna, told Newswatch that Patrick Yakowa, the governor of the state, was not happy with the indiscriminate award of contracts by the   ministry without the approval of the state executive council.

A group known as Muslims Youth Action Committee for Good Governance has, therefore, called on Yakowa to investigate the allegations of contract scandal involving the two government offices. The group, through its president, Mohammed Haruna, challenged the governor to institute an independent probe over claims by the Due Process Office that the ministry awarded the contract without following the laid down procedures for the award of contracts. Haruna said that the call for probe had become necessary to ascertain the true position on the controversial contract scandal which has pitted the two camps against each other.

Mbu Goes Home

Obong Akpaekong

On March 30, the remains of Mathew Tawo Mbu, foremost politician and former minister of foreign affairs, labour and defence were interred in Okundi, in Boki local government area of Cross River State. Top government functionaries and political associates came to bid goodbye to the man popularly called “Government Man” because of his long stay in various governments since the 50s.

President Goodluck Jonathan said the exit of Mbu was a great loss to the nation. He described the late politician as a nationalist, elder statesman, a global figure and a true diplomat. “Many will remember the late Dr. Matthew Mbu for his many diplomatic assignments, but I will remember him for his calm disposition and mature contributions, which helped Nigeria through difficult times between 1967 and 1970 and again in 1993, during the June 12 political crisis, when he served Nigeria as minister for Foreign Affairs,” he said at Mbu’s burial.

Jonathan told the people that in every high profile position in which Mbu served his fatherland as a very young man, he demonstrated characteristic level of uncompromising diligence, commitment and excellence to the discharge of his duties, while in his later years, he devoted his time and resources to driving the cause of the nation’s peace and stability.

Liyel Imoke, Cross River State governor, said Mbu’s death was a colossal loss to the people.

Kekong Bisong, the Catholic priest  had in a homily titled: “This We Must remember,” said Mbu, in death, would remain a giant in Nigeria and the world as his life and times would live on in the memories of those he served.