Grass-cutting probe: I don’t award contracts —SGF

THE Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engineer Babachir Lawal has said that questions regarding the wards of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North East should be directed to its members as a body.

Lawal said it was misleading to make the public believe that he as an individual has the authority or power to award contracts.

He was reacting to reports in some national dailies on the ongoing Senate probe of contracts, captioned “SGF to Explain how fake firms got N1.3 billion Contracts” and “Grass Cutting Probe, Contracts awarded to 20 Ghost Firms, Senate Panel,” respectively.

SGF in a statement issued on his behalf by the Director, Press, in his Office, Mr. Bolaji Adebiyi, said the screaming headlines were misleading.

The statement read in part: “​First of all, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation observes that the headlines are at complete variance with the body of the story.

” Indeed, in the body of the story, Senator Shehu Sani made it clear to the reporters when he said “Meanwhile, you should understand that we are not investigating the SGF alone.  We are investigating contracts that were awarded under the Presidential Initiative on the North East (PINE).

“The implication is that PINE is really the body to answer all enquiries regarding the contract awards.  Not the SGF.

“To the real and more important issue, the general public should not be misled into the believe that the Secretary to the Government of the Federation has the authority or power to award contracts.

“This, indeed, is not the case.  As with all awards of contract in government, the PINE projects under investigation, went through what is referred to as due process in public expenditure,” it said.

The SGF explained that the contracts in question were awarded only after the requisite clearances were obtained from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), saying was expected that these clearances were obtained only when all conditions precedent to the awards of contracts are met.

He said apart from the BPP huddle, the Tenders Board of the procuring agencies, in this instance, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, has to approve of the contracts before they are awarded.  He said at no time were these processes compromised in the award of contracts by PINE, while also emphasising that he as SGF, was not even a member of the Tenders Board.

He, therefore, advised, the media to report fairly, and be mindful of the structure of government, the powers of functionaries and the stringent processes and procedures that go into public sector expenditure.

“The SGF despite his position in government cannot award contracts.  He is not even a member of the Tenders Board.  All contracts must, indeed, pass the acid test of obtaining clearance from the Bureau of Public Procurement and the scrutiny of the Tenders Board.

“PINE contracts were awarded following strict compliance with public expenditure and procurement processes.  It will interest everyone to know too, that all PINE projects were properly and satisfactorily executed.

“The beneficiaries have continued to express their appreciation to the Federal Government for PINE intervention, that in many cases, has accelerated the return of normalcy to hitherto ravaged communities,” statement added.