Follow Us on Google
By Lukman Olabiyi
The Centre for Social Justice Advocacy (CSJA) has accused some unnamed government officials of undermining the programmes and policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement signed by Executive Director Abubakar Garba Abdulrahman, the CSJA alleged that officials are conspiring to award over N60 billion in capital project contracts through dubious means, violating the Public Procurement Act of 2007.
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) is at the centre of this controversy, with N170 billion allocated to it in the 2024 budget.
The group claimed that some officials were trying to bypass the open tendering process in favour of selective tendering, which would benefit themselves and their associates.
Initially, only a small fraction of the contracts were advertised in national newspapers on May 27, 2024.
However, following opposition from REA’s acting Managing Director, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, a second advertisement was issued on July 22, 2024.
The CSJA contended that a significant portion of the contracts remains unadvertised and is likely to be awarded through selective tendering, which they argued would shortchange the Federal Government(FG) and the nation. They criticized the piecemeal approach to tender advertisements and stressed that open competitive bidding would reduce costs, minimize corruption, and benefit a broader segment of the population.
Abdulrahman denounced the selective tendering as detrimental to President Tinubu’s administration and a factor worsening poverty and hardship in the country.
