N141.1m Contract: SDGs Office Deliberately Violating Procurement Regulations — NEFGAD

A procurement Advocacy group Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD) has criticised the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) office over its rebuttal to a report of violating procurement Act by awarding inexistent contract worth 141 million Naira to an unqualified contractor.

NEFGAD in a statement signed by its head of office, Mr Akingunola Omoniyi, stated that the SDG office is either ignorant of procurement regulations or deliberately violating its fundamental principles by the weak and watery rebuttal.

OSSAP-SDGs had refuted the allegations, insisting that it has been transparent in the construction of the Skills Acquisition Centre and a Block of Classrooms in Lagos State, as well as many similar projects across the country.

The Office had stated that the decision to relocate the project from its original site in Ajeromi was necessitated by the insufficient space at the original location, to ensure the successful completion of the project.

Omoniyi in the statement maintained that a public procurement proceeding is unique in its entirety with no room for any ambiguity that will make it unimplementable or untraceable for public accountability and scrutiny, hence, the mandatory requirement of a project evaluation/feasibility and impacts assessments reports as precondition for any procurement proceeding.

“These reports serve as Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) carrying all genetic information of the project including project location, land survey and other geo-features necessary to the successful implementation/execution of the project.

“ The relocation of this project during execution shows total disconnect, meaning the entire procurement proceeding is Standing on nothing.

“Changing project location during project implementation is an aberration unknown to extant procurement regulations and can best be described as changing goal post in the middle of a game.

“The project as relocated from its original site has become null and void. The executed project in the new location is a brand new project requiring an entirely new procurement proceeding/process to gain legality,” he said.

Omoniyi added that the SDG office’s position on the allegation was unacceptable and would not go unchallenged through appropriate legal means.