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George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry on Contracts in Imo State, yesterday, was told that ex-governor Rochas Okorocha awarded N240 million contract for the construction of a tunnel in Owerri verbally without documentation and in breach of due process.
Mr. Collins Ududua, accountant of Kilcornam Construction Company who gave details of the transaction from the witness box said the firm was hired to construct the tunnel across Assumpta Avenue in 2016 by the former governor without a legal agreement sealed by both parties as demanded by law.
Answering a question on who designed and prepared the Bill of Quantities, the witness said it was the company’s engineers, after receiving N240 million from the government, through electronic transfer.
“Former governor, Rochas Okorocha approached the company to know if we can construct a tunnel across the road. We affirmed our ability to deliver on the job. He (Okorocha) paid us the full contract sum of N240 million before we commenced work.
He then took us to the site. There was no contract paper or agreement before we commenced and finished the job. It was a verbal agreement.
Not even a letter of award for the contract was given to the company. The company’s engineers prepared the Bill of Quantities, but I do not know if engineers from the state Ministry of Works supervised the work, while it lasted. There was no certificate of completion for the job,” Ududua said.
He said he did not know the government office that paid the bill for the project after it was executed. “We were paid the net.
The state government deducted N24 million, representing the withholding tax and Value Added Tax at source,” he told the panel.
When reminded that a document from the Accountant General’s Office indicated that the company was actually paid N267 million as against N240million, Ududua said: “I will be surprised to hear that the tunnel cost N267 million.”
When the judicial commission sought to know why the company did not asphalt the top of the tunnel, Ududua said it was not part of the contract.
He denied ever hearing that the Nigerian Society of Engineers(NSE) had raised an alarm on the shoddy construction work on the tunnel and knowledge that engineers working in Nigeria must be registered by COREN.
Former Secretary of the Board of Imo State Universal Basic Education Board (IMSUBEB) Mr. Okey Anyikwa, mounted the witness box and told the Commission that even though he was the administrative head of the board, no contract on school projects passed through his office.
“Ordinarily, I was the administrative head of IMSUBEB, no contract for the construction of primary school buildings passed through my office, but I heard about these awards later. The much I know is that the state government decided to construct 305 primary school buildings in all the wards across the state. It was the policy of the administration, after it started the free education policy.
“Ordinarily, the board should initiate the action plan, which would be forwarded to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for approval. When approved, UBEC sends it back to the board, who will then award the contract.”
“I am not aware if the 305 primary school building project had counterpart funding from the state government. As the Board Secretary, I was not aware of the 91 primary school building project awarded to White Label International Company Limited,” Anyikwa said.
He said he did not know anything about the projects because his office was never involved in any project.
