The Director of Works and Estate Management in the National Assembly, Alhaji Mohammed Mahdi, on Thursday said that the controversial contracts for the renovation of the residences of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Patricia Etteh and her deputy, Alhaji Babangida Nguroje, did not follow due process.
Mahdi, who appeared before the committee probing the scandal, added that the contracts were awarded without bill of quantities and architectural drawings.
He said he declined to issue a certificate of payment when he discovered that there was no contractual agreement between the contractors and the National Assembly management.
The director claimed that Etteh and the principal officers of the House awarded the contracts.
Mahdi disclosed that a memo for the award of the contracts, which originated from the Office of the Speaker, was forwarded to him by the Clerk of the National Assembly.
He described the manner the contract papers came to his office as ‘abnormal.
The Director said, The normal thing would have been to ask the Works Department to inspect the properties and come back and make (prepare) a bill of quantities and (architectural) designs.”
He explained that when he observed that the contract lacked details or specifications after a July 12 meeting at the Speakers office, he declined to issue the certificate of payment for N190m to the contractors.
Mahdi said that he insisted that the contracts be restructured in a manner that they would be clear and specific.
According to him, between 75 per cent and 80 per cent of the quotations were in lump sums. He said with that, it was difficult to determine the actual contract costs.
The director said, When the contractor came asking for money, I told my colleagues (other directors) that the bill of quantities should be restructured.
Initially, the contractor asked for N190m but I rejected that. They later sent in a document that the contractor needed N170m. But I told them that they did not answer my questions.
I asked them, ‘what are you demolishing? How long will it last? How many workers are involved?”
Asked whether there was any pre-qualification bidding in line with the Federal Governments new law on contract award, Madhi said, I am not a member of Pre-qualification Committee.”
When one of the panel members asked, Do you have a signed contract agreement with the contractor?”, he replied, ‘The Tenders Board will answer that. I dont know.”
The Director of Legislative Budget, Mr. Kolawole Osman, who also testified before the committee, said the contracts were hurriedly awarded because there was a need for the speaker to urgently move into her residence.
Osman, whose office served as the secretary of the Tenders Board, however, justified the award of the contracts to three firms on the grounds that it met the Financial Regulation on Contracts.
But a member of the panel, Mr. Habeeb Fashinro, pointed out that Osman abridged a section of the cited regulation.
He read the portion which states that selective tendering shall involve five companies and not three.
Fashinro stressed that ‘shall implied a mandatory clause.
However, Osman said the word could be applied loosely, because of the urgency of the contract.
Fashinro again asked the director to justify the purchase of 10 Toyota Jeeps for the principal officers, when it was not provided for in the 2007 budget.
Responding, Osman argued that the Speaker and President of the Senate had a statutory provision of N150m each for the purchase of official vehicles.
He argued that the budget provided funds for the replacement of vehicles for principal officers.
Fashinro then read page 607 of the 2007 budget, which provided for N150m each for the President of the Senate and the Speaker.
At this point, Osman was at his wits end, and promised to respond to the panels question on that later.
Another member of the panel, Alhaji Saleh Minjibir, pointed out that two out of the three companies that won the contracts had the same office and telephone numbers.
He also said that directors of two of the companies share the same surname.
The two firms that share the same office address are Lee Development Nigeria Limited and CNO Development Limited, located at Suite 30 Neighbourhood Centre, Garki, Abuja.
While Lee Development Nigeria Limited has Mr. Ignatius Anopuo as its Managing Director, Deecrew Nigeria Limited (the third firm) also has Mr. Donatius Anopuo as its Managing Director.
The Minority Leader of the House, Alhaji Mohammed Ndume, who moved the motion for the House to investigate the scandal, said he was neither involved in the award of the contract nor aware of any meeting.
Also, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, the leader of the Action Congress and Minority Whip of the House, who by his status is also a member of the body of principal officers, also said he was not aware.
Four other principal officers of the House, had earlier dissociated themselves from the contracts.
The contract for the renovation of the speakers residence is N238m, while that of her deputy is N90m.
The National Assembly management had two weeks ago defended the contracts, which it put at N579m as against N628m earlier claimed by some members of the House.
The public hearing continues on Friday with more testimonies from National Assembly top officials.
The Corporate Affairs Commission, the contractors, and principal officers of the House will also testify before the panel.
Chiawo Nwankwo, Abuja
The Punch
Friday, September 14, 2007
