Bolaji Adebiyi, press director in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal has said in a statement in Abuja that reports suggesting that his office awarded contracts to ghost firms were not true.
Babachir’s office says he cannot even influence awarding of contracts
The Nation reports that Babachir’s office said all contracts being awarded go through the official process that even the SGF cannot influence.
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Adebiyi said: ”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 belief 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.
“The contracts were awarded only after the requisite clearances were obtained from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). It is expected that these clearances are obtained only when all conditions precedent to the awards of contracts are met. 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. At no time were these processes compromised in the award of contracts by PINE.”
Adebiyi also noted the SGF is not even a member of the Tenders Board and cannot even influence the awarding of contracts.
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“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,” he said.
ZENITHBLOG.com recalls that just days ago the Nigerian Senate said it had dropped its planned investigation of Secretary to the Government of the Federation David Babachir Lawal and his company Rholavision over alleged contract scandal.
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