BEVERLY HILLS, June 05, (THEWILL) – Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and her predecessor, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have been summoned to appear before the House of Representatives over alleged abuse and breach of the Procurement Act, 2007.
The house’s Committee on Public Procurement, which invited the ministers, directed that they should appear before it on Tuesday so it also summoned a former Head of Service (HoS), Mr Steve Otunla and former Accountant-General to the Federation (AoGF), Mr Jonah Otunla.
Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Oluwole Oke (Osun-PDP), who issued the order inviting the officials, read the Riot Act to all Ministers and Accounting Officers of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) saying “the shortest way to Kuje prison is through breach of procurement laws.”
He decried the discrepancies between the submissions made by Federal Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) observing that out of the 12 pre-shipment Inspectors who benefited from a N17 billion payment, seven were appointed in line with due process while five were appointed through the back door.
Oke, who called for overhaul of the entire process pointed out that a former governor of Bauchi State and a former member of the House of Representatives, who were part of those who promulgated the procurement law were sentenced to five years imprisonment for infractions.
He added that a former Chairman of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) was also sentenced to two years imprisonment for breaching the Procurement Act “before the Supreme Court intervened’’.
He advised the invited stakeholders to bring before the committee Presidential Approvals, Letters of Awards, Agreements signed with the contractors and performance records or face the consequences of violating the Procurement Act.
