Posted by From Josephine Lohor in Abuja on
The Special Committee on Review and Verification of Contracts awarded by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) between 2001 and 2003 led by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, has uncovered large-scale fraud and financial recklessness in the period under review.
* Recommends prosecution, recovery of looted funds
The Special Committee on Review and Verification of Contracts awarded by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) between 2001 and 2003 led by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, has uncovered large-scale fraud and financial recklessness in the period under review.
The committee has also recommended the recovery of misappropriated funds, prosecution of culprits as well as structural and administrative changes to sanitize the operations of the NPA and "forestall future occurrence of these or similar incidences".
Between 2001 and 2003, the NPA Board Chairman was Chief Olabode George, the present Deputy National Chairman (South) of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Alhaji Aminu Daboh was the Managing Director.
Submitting its report to President Olusegun Obasanjo who described it as "a good work", Ribadu disclosed that the committee has established that "the NPA awarded 24,252 contracts during the period under review with a total value of N46.946,402,776; $236-,913,986.84; £24,905,588.23 DM461,936.65; EURO147,926,957.99 and SEK4,087,918.70".
Ribadu also told Obasanjo that "most of these contracts were awarded without due regard to extant rules and regulations which has resulted in NPA accumulating huge contract debt running into billions of naira without corresponding value to the Authority. The committee has established that the outstanding contract bills for the period under review stood at N9,264,411,707.94; $1,634,772.60, 2,920,575.40 British Pounds; Euro 919,001.76; DM41,052.28".
On receiving the report, Obasanjo stated that "I think we are clearing the stable little by little", adding that "NPA is one of the last to be given a clean up".
With these figures, Ribadu stated that "the committee's findings and observations include widespread financial recklessness, flagrant violation of extant government rules and regulations on award of contracts, disregard for Due Process guidelines, gross and massive inflation of contract prices and excessive contract splitting.
"The committee has established that the Board and Management of the NPA during the period under review are responsible for the flagrant violation of the extant Government rules and regulations on award of contracts".
Although recommending that creditors with genuine cases should be settled, Ribadu emphasized that the committee that was constituted after the resolution taken by the Federal Executive Council to ensure accountability, transparency and prudence in the way Government conducts its business, performed its duties "assiduously and diligently investigated the contarcts awarded by the NPA during the period under review".