SAHARA REPORTERS
Ascrutiny of the Ekiti State open contracting portal has uncovered potential breaches of the state’s procurement laws.
The Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement law mandates open competitive bidding for contract awards, with specific guidelines for restricted bidding.
However, an examination of the law reveals a concerning discrepancy: high-ranking officials, including permanent secretaries and general managers are given contracts, despite no provision for such exceptions.
Ekiti State procurement law requires open competitive bidding. Restricted bidding guidelines are clearly outlined while no provision allows contracts for high-ranking officials.
The revelations raise questions about the state’s commitment to transparency and accountability in its contracting process.
Section 24 of the law states “that persons who have been involved in the process of preparing for a procurement or part of the proceedings thereof may neither bid for procurement in question or any part thereof, either as main contractor or subcontractor nor may they cooperate in any manners with bidders in the course of preparing their tenders”.
The review shows that at least 10 contracts were given out between July and August 2024, in contravention of this provision.
On August 14, the state awarded a contract for the internal electrification and installation of 1MVA, 33/0.415KVA transformer at Ekiti State cargo airport with the code “ocds-6olpk7”.
The contract worth N281.7 million was however awarded to the permanent secretary. It was awarded on August 14.
Another contract for the repair of a damaged transformer at Falegan and installations relief transformer at Olaoluwa/Orisun Egbewa communities along Ilawe Road, Ado-Ekiti, with the code ocds-6olpk7-EKSEB/BPP/CONO/82024/15010268 was awarded to the General Manager of the Ekiti State Electricity Board to the tune N46.504 million.
The state also awarded a contract worth N204.8 million for the upgrading of a damaged 2.5MVA transformer at Ikere-Ekiti 33/11KV Injection Substation to 5MVA transformer with the code ocds-6olpk7-EKSEB/BPP/CONO/82024/23034452), to the General Manager of the Ekiti State Electricity Board (EKSEB).
Other contracts tracked include the extension of independent power plant 11KV network to INEC office Ado-Ekiti at a cost of N72 million. It was however awarded to the “permanent secretary”.
Installation of a centralised electronic security monitoring and surveillance system at the cost of N123.8 million was also awarded to the permanent secretary.
The supply and installation of fire rescue and EOC equipment for Ekiti State worth N114 million was also awarded to the permanent secretary.
The state awarded a contract to the permanent secretary for a new hand dug well and the repair of an existing one in 16 local government areas to the tune of N49 million.
The execution of the Ekiti State Tourism Master Plan which cost N183 million was awarded to the Director General of the Ekiti State Tourism Bureau.
Another sum of N30 million was awarded for the extension of the office of the accountant and was awarded to the Executive Secretary, Ekiti Audit Service Commission.
The fencing and outstanding items of works on the new state library along Ilawe Road was awarded to the permanent secretary to the tune of N45 million.
In total, the 12 contracts tracked cost N1.189 billion.
Speaking to SaharaReporters on the development, the Advocacy and Network Engagement Director of the Public and Private Development Centre, Kachi Chukwu, described the situation as an aberration of the law.
“It is a clear aberration of the law, although some states have stated that they award these contracts on direct labour, however this may not excuse the action. The states also blame the timeframe between awarding contracts and the actual time the contracts were awarded,” he said.
He, however, noted that states are meant to respect the open contracting law, especially if they have signed up to the open contracting standards.
The Executive Director of Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative, Segun Elemo, told SaharaReporters that the actions as unlawful.
“It is not lawful for the state to do that, even though sometimes they want to do internal procurement to avoid the procurement process but an instance of a N281 million contract should have been put to open bidding. This kind of development suggests a tendency for corruption,” he noted.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has revealed that open contracting corruption is responsible for a staggering 60% of corruption cases in Nigeria.
In an interview with SaharaReporters, Ekiti State information commissioner, Taiwo Olatunbosun, denied that awarding contracts to permanent secretaries and director generals was an abberation of the law.
He argued that such contracts are awarded through direct labour and as such can be awarded to offices of permanent secretaries or chief accounting officers of the agency.
“When such contracts are awarded to the permanent secretaries, since they have signatories to government accounts, they can ensure adequate supervision of the projects,” he said.
He explained that the contract award is compliant with the state procurement law, which enables such transactions without violating any regulations.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN SAHARA REPORTERS
