Constituency projects: Lawmakers, agencies, contractors conspire to certify work not done — ICPC

The Independent Corrupt Practices and related offences Commission (ICPC) has raised the alarm that some members of the National Assembly are conniving with government agencies and contractors to falsely certify constituency projects not executed to obtain money.

The anti-graft commission is worried that cases of passing off as satisfactorily completed projects not done are rampant and are depriving government of much-needed resources.

In its “Constituency and Executive Projects Tracking Exercise Phase 3 Report,” submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari, the commission however assured that it has set machinery in motion to recover all such monies illegally obtained by the lawmakers and their collaborators.

Under “Uncompleted projects certified and paid for (false certification of projects)” the commission provided examples of the infractions by the lawmakers and contractors.

It stated: “One of the egregious discoveries is the unholy collusion between contractors and some sponsoring legislators on the one hand, and agencies’ projects supervisors on the other, to either not execute the contracts at all or underperform the execution of the contracts while passing it off as having been satisfactorily completed.

“This type of infraction has been a trend in all the different phases of the tracking exercise.

“In a project awarded to UBEC in December 2020 with a completion period of weeks, for the construction of a Block of Classrooms in LEA Primary School, Tsebarawa Village, in Ajingi LGA of Kano State, the project was abandoned but the contractor fully paid.

“The contractor was fully paid on the advice and certification of the project supervisor.

“In another project for the construction and equipping of e-Library in Katsina Central Federal Constituency, the original design and drawings were changed and substituted with a tiny cubicle without recourse to the executing agency and without approved Change Order.

“Nevertheless, the supervisor of the project certified the project as having been satisfactorily completed on the basis of which the entire contract cost of N49,973,052.

“QS valuation put the cost of the cubicle at N17,916,704.11. This occasioned a loss of N32,056,347.89 million to the Government, an amount syphoned by the sponsoring member in connivance with the project supervisor.

“The supervisor is currently under suspension and will be dealt with as appropriate while the amount is being recovered.

“In another project titled ‘Supply for youth empowerment Startup programme in Nguru Federal Constituency’ Yobe State, awarded by IPCR, two officers of the agencies appointed to supervise the project hardly visited the site but sat down in their offices and wrote satisfactory project completion reports on the basis of which the contracts sum were fully paid when the contracts were clearly underperformed.

“The BOQ provided 215 (nos) sewing machines and 158 (nos) grinding machines but only 100 of each were respectively supplied.

“The officers were paid all expenses necessary for the supervision. Additionally, they were found to have received monies from the contractor.

“These monies have been recovered and the officers will be sanctioned as appropriate, including by formal report to their agency.

“The sponsoring legislator, who also wrote to the agency claiming full and satisfactory completion of the projects was cited and recovery of N9,786,195.57 being the cost of the unsupplied components of the project was made.

“The action of the legislator is a clear indication of his personal interest in the contractor company.”

The ICPC report also pointed out that projects underperformance is still rampant despite the efforts of relevant agencies to minimize it, blaming project sponsors and contractors for the situation

According to the report, the cumulative effect of this is the shoddy execution of projects both in terms of quantities and the attendant waste of scarce public resources.

The report further stated: “Projects underperformance is still rampant in spite of the efforts of the Commission and other ACAs to curb it. Projects supervisors

and contractors conspire to underperform the execution of projects and pass them off as having been satisfactorily executed.

“The cumulative effect of this is shoddy execution of projects both in terms of quantities and the attendant waste of scarce public resources. For instance, the project for the supply of cumulatively 102(nos) motorcycles to Tangaza/Gudu Federal Constituency of Sokoto State awarded to Muesther Unique Global Ltd by the National Lottery Trust Funds was found to have been underperformed by 83 as only 19(nos) Motorcycles and 10(nos) Tricycles were

physically sighted by the tracking team.

“The purported beneficiaries were randomly sampled and contacted of all who denied ever receiving any such items from the sponsoring legislator.

“Meanwhile, the sponsor had written a note under his hand certifying the project as having been fully and satisfactorily performed based on which full payment was made. The project supervisor of the implementing agency also filled out a Job Completion Certificate certifying the job as having been 100% completed.

“Necessary enforcement actions have been activated to recover the difference and the project supervisor appropriately sanctioned.

“In another contract for construction of 2(nos) Community based Water Supply to Illela/Gwadabawa Federal Constituency awarded by the SDG, only one was built while the second was abandoned after the entire contract sum had been paid while the project was fraudulently certified 100% done by both the sponsor and the project supervisor on the basis of which full payment was made.

“This is evident in the many QS Reports indicating the underperformance or poor execution for which some

contractors were compelled to return to sites to undertake remediation works or refund the unearned amount to the public till.”

Beyond that, the report also highlighted the habit of overpaying contract sums with the culprits pleading “honest mistake” when caught, as the ICPC maintained that “It now appears that such mistakes are not so honest after all.”

“In the project for the construction of 13(nos) 22.5m Federal Constituency of Benue state awarded at the Solar Powered Boreholes in Kwande/Ushongo cost of N112,942,208, in spite of the fact that the project was abandoned, the contractor was overpaid by N9,114,112.

“The Commission is in the of recovering the excess payment while the contractor is being compelled to return process the project to site to complete,” the report stated.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…Constituency projects Constituency projects

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…. Constituency projects  Constituency projects