•Hamzat Lawal
Anti-corruption activist and founder of Connected Development, Hamzat Lawal, said that Nigeria is seriously dealing with contract fraud among Ministries, Departments, and Agencies in Nigeria (MDAs).
This is in light of a report made by the Auditor-General of Nigeria Shaakaa Kanyitor Chira on November 24th, exposing irregularity payments for contracts of over ₦197.72 billion across various MDAs, reports Channels TV.
The findings, from the annual reports of the Auditor-General, cover activities between the years 2020 and 2021, a development that Hamzat said is concerning.
“This is a crime. We are dealing with contract fraud. In that report, it shows that there are irregularities even in the process of awarding contracts,” he said.
“The Procurement Act is very clear that when you want to award contracts, you must publish it in a national daily and give a timeline, and it should be competitive.
“Most of these payments were made from the federation account; some of the contracts were never executed or published, while some were abandoned projects.”
Speaking on how accountability should be brought to Nigerians, the activist said, “We have anti-corruption agencies, and I don’t think now is the time for them to wait for citizens to write petitions.
“The likes of The Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), based on their statutory power, can write to the office of the Auditor-General and ask for a copy of the report,” Hamzat said.
“Now when they go through the report, they should start inviting, in some cases arresting some of these perpetrators and start prosecuting them.”
