Media Advocacy West Africa (MAWA-Foundation) has uncovered how the National Institute of Construction Technology and Management (NICTM) awarded N23.58 million contract for the supply of furniture to schools in Burutu Federal Constituency of Delta state to Spatruck Integrated Company Limited, a fake company that never existed.
Worse still, NICTM in pretense to legitimize this kind of corruption undertook a procurement process which includes bid advertisement to arrive at awarding a contract to a fake company in a clear violation of civil service rule and Procurement Act.
MAWA Foundation using the Freedom of Information (FOI) requested NICTM to provide her the following information
(1) The name of a company that was awarded the contract for the supply of furniture to schools in Burutu Federal Constituency of Delta state
(2) The report of procurement/tender bid leading to the selection of the company to execute the project
(3) Copy evidence of advertisement leading to the selection of the company for the project execution
(4) The exact amount of money the contract was awarded to the company (5) Bank Statement of payments made to the company regarding the project execution
Responding to the FOI request, (NICTM) in a letter signed by Mr. Cornelius Enoma, Acting Director, Physical Planning and Work Division, disclosed it awarded the contract to Spatruck Integrated Company Limited at the price of N23,581,687.50.
Worse still, an investigation has since shown the company that got a contract worth millions of Niara from (NICTM) is fake and does not exist.
To unveil the company identity, MAWA Foundation using the FOI, requested the Corporate Affairs Commission to provide her with the true status of Spatruck Integrated Company Limited that was awarded the contract.
Responding to MAWA FOI request, the Corporate Affairs Commission said it has no evidence of Spatruck Integrated Company Limited being a registered company while appealing to MAWA to furnish it with other supporting documents in her possession to help it investigate the company further.
It is unclear the kind of procurement process that was followed by NICTM that led to the award of N23.58 million contract to a fake company.
This is even as the Procurement Act and Fiscal Responsibility Act provide for punishment in the form of imprisonment or option of fine for breach of procurement process in the award of contracts.